The Wind Up Toy
by little-kitty-Momo
Summary: The foreigner has seen quite a lot during her stay in Wonderland. Still, this was the first time that she got turned into a small, dainty doll. This time, it's up to Joker's counterpart to clean up the mess.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N:** This is going to be rather short; I think there are 2-4 chapters left.  
>- not proofread, I sincerely apologise for any grammatical mistakes, grammar is not my forte and I will try to find a beta reader as soon as possible. Also, while the general idea of Alice running into these kinds troubles is not new, I hope that I will be able to let this turn out the way I want to and hopefully show something new about the characters I use along the way. Or I will fail.<p>

Anyway, please enjoy this and feel free to criticize etc. m(_ _)m

Disclaimer: I don't own HnknA.

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**SUMMARY: [The foreigner has seen quite a lot during her stay in Wonderland. Still, this was the first time that she got turned into a small, dainty doll. And who if not Joker has his hands in this whole incident? However, it's up to his counterpart to take care of the problem. **

**Along the way, Alice will once again be reminded of the fact that Wonderland is indeed a bitter place for many of its residents. ]**

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><p>.<p>

When the right time came, Wonderland changed into various colours, starting from the bright orange of autumn leaves that the March Hare adored, up until the mild pink of the cherry blossoms in the Castle of Heart. The new circumstances proved to our dear foreigner once again that she would probably never get used to the illogical structure of this wonderfully dangerous and unpredictable world.

The visits of Joker's circus have become a part of the girl's routine, accompanied by card games and occasional conversations with the circus master and his counterpart. As much as she hesitated to admit it, the change of season was not the only reason why she became used to visiting the dangerous pair of role-holders. Certain things and events happened, one of which she happened to relieve in her mind as she looked distantly out of the frozen window glass of the Tower of Clover. _How often did the day change to night since then?_, she wondered.

_Ten or twenty times, perhaps?_

Time was not significant in this world, yet she couldn't help but cherish all the wonderful and perhaps maddening moments she encountered here. With a pensive sigh, she let her mind wander back to a certain event which took place a couple of days ago.

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><p>.<p>

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The young woman was on her way to the bright circus tents. Her way lead her through the Joker's forest, full of different objects, arrows and other stuff which was related to the circus.

She passed various signs without paying much attention to them since she was already used to the miscellaneous objects which hung in the weirdest of places here and there. While making her way through the forest, however, she almost tripped over something in front of her feet.

Cursing her lack of attention, the girl looked down to identify acolourful and relatively small object that she almost stepped upon. It was a toy, shaped as a brown bear wearing blue shorts and a shirt striped in black and white. A big red bow decorated the throat area, making it look quite adorable, in her opinion. She also noted that the feet were quite big for such a small body; they were quite flat as well so that the upper half of body doesn't fall over while standing or walking. Almost immediately she recognized it as a wind-up toy due to the big metal fly on the small back. It was supposed to walk on its own and a memory quickly came up in her mind when she was smaller and used to play with such toys, too. They brought her joy and she would often laugh happily while watching the toy as it tried to walk around.

_Whoever has lost it must be quite sad about the loss,_ she figured.

On the other hand, it was normal for people in Wonderland to throw away old, unneeded things and forget them quickly. _If something is broken, then replace it_ – this is how they normally think.

But the toy looked alright and she wondered silently just how exactly it ended up here, on the road in Joker's forest.

It was not an unusual sight; the foreigner would often find various toys and dolls scattered around the circus when visiting the circus master. The sight was quite eerie, for the small objects would always be there when no one was around, except for her and Joker, of course. From her unintentional visits of the prison realm she remembered that even the other place which Joker ruled was filled with these things. However, they looked abandoned and gave off an unpleasant aura. Most of them were either broken or were missing an arm or leg. Not to mention the ones that looked more like a mix out of different animals.

Shaking her head the foreigner cleared her head from the uncomfortable thoughts. The toy at her feet seemed innocent and quite normal, at first sight. While a normal resident of Wonderland would just step over it, the young woman felt bad for the small toy. She couldn't just ignore it and leave it here. She remembered that there were many children among the staff; the foreigner often saw the circus children running around the place and chances were high that this small toy belonged to one of them. Moreover, the loss of the favourite toy was always a tragedy for a small child.

With that on mind, she bent over and lifted the small thing. The plastic felt cool against her hands as she took a closer look at the abandoned toy.

Just as she suspected, the toy looked undamaged at first sight, the inner mechanism seemed broken, though. Carefully, she flipped it over and examined the metal fly at the back of it and tried to move it with her free hand. To her disappointment, it seemed stuck and refused to move. She had to admit that she was not an expert when it came to technology, the foreigner didn't even have a slightest clue how to fix a broken toy. But leaving the poor thing here on the floor was not an option, either.

"_Oh, what do__ we have here__?"_

The girl almost sprang up as she noticed a familiar presence behind her, almost immediately she connected the smooth sounding voice to a certain role-holder she came to know well enough. There was only one person who would shamelessly sneak up from behind and scare her while still pretending that it was a coincidence and wasn't meant to scare the foreigner. The blue-eyed girl let out an exasperated sigh and turned around, it was no use speaking to the owner of the place with her back to him.

Immediately her eyes met the expected sight of the circus master. His lonely ruby red eye was focused on the object in her hands.

While he was still busy with looking curiously at the toy, as if it was quite unusual of her to hold such an object, the girl's mind registered that the Joker in front of her was White due to his calm and even manner of speech. _Since she was dealing with White it wouldn't hurt to reprimand him a bit,_ she thought, _at least he would listen to her and react normally._

"I really hope that you won't scare me again like that, Joker." Although her tone gave way slight annoyance, it didn't seem to affect the jester at all.

"Hm? Hmm?" His gaze still seemed to be glued to the broken toy in her hands, as if he was contemplating a certain idea. Finally, his eye met hers, as if finally recognizing her request. "Oh, but it's much more fun to look at your face when you're surprised, my dear Alice. Aside from that, though…" His hand gestured towards the wind-up toy as he chose to proceed, "…you seem interested in this little guy, do you wish to keep him?"

"Huh?" She stared blankly back. Why would he let her take what originally belonged to his territory? She hesitated. "But… is it really alright? Maybe one of the circus children lost it?"

"Oh, no, please don't worry about it." The red head made a careless gesture with his hand, as if showing that it was not important at all. "I can tell that nobody wants him anymore. Well, at least no one who would find that guy's company enjoyable."

"That's… kind of sad." The girl looked over the rejected toy, then finally made up her mid. "I will take him, then. But please tell me if someone will miss his toy, okay?"

A wide smile spread across the circus master's face.

"As you wish, young lady. Now, shall we get going? I'm sure that you didn't come to look at the forest only. Did you get bored of the current season? If so then let's get to business quickly, I can't allow the foreigner to get bored, after all!"

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Time passed by quickly with Joker's company, although the term itself seemed wrong; the girl has already learned that time stood still in Joker's territory. How that was possible was still a mystery to the clueless foreigner, although she herself has given up on trying to understand the logic of this mad world a long time ago. It's easier to accept it that way, though Nightmare's constant praises about her supposedly good adaptation skills were indeed quite annoying from times to times.

Right now she was heading back to the territory she stayed in, the Tower of Clover. It was not a long way back compared to the distance between the Heart Castle and her place, the girl soon found herself eagerly climbing the stairs of the enormously huge building. The girl felt uneasy ever since she parted with Joker, remembering his gaze with a glint of amusement as it followed her like a shadow until she was out of his sight.

The wind-up toy, still in her hands, reminded the girl of her original goal. _There surely must be a way to fix the small bear,_ she thought.

_Perhaps Julius could help her?_

He was a clockmaker and should be able to handle a small problem. Besides, the foreigner was sure that a clock's mechanism was much more complicated than this one. The idea seemed good, for now at least. Still, it was not proper to beg Julius since he was always busy. There was always another box of damaged clocks upon his table before one is aware. She would have to wait until he had some space to breathe; a toy could wait for a while and was not nearly as important as a broken clock.

The rest of her walk went by uneventfully and soon she entered the guest room she was occupying in the Tower of Clover. The girl took a deep breath while noticing that the air was quite stuffy. She quickly opened the huge window beside her bed to let the fresh and cold air enter the room while leaving her new possession on the nightstand.

After thinking about her options, she finally settled on calling it a day and rested her tired body on top of the fluffy bed sheets. The soft material felt good against her tired frame as she relaxed, letting her guard down. Her azure eyes stared blankly at the familiar white ceiling, then, after a while her gaze turned towards the nightstand and studied absentmindedly the broken toy.

The said bear was sitting bravely on the even surface, its cute glassy eyes facing the girl directly. The brunette stared at the cute thing for a while, still thinking of any imaginable ways to fix it.

A sudden glint in its round and clear eye, however, caught her off-guard. Alice blinked. It might have been a simple trick, something caused by the light which came from the opened window. _Yes, that must be it. I'm quite tired, after all. I'm just imagining things._

Despite her mind's protests, her reason still telling her that it was just the light, she focused her gaze once more on the toy's eyes.

They seemed so… _frighteningly alive_, she had to admit.

What came next was something that she had difficulty to describe and understand later on. What she remembered out of it was the fact that a strong breeze suddenly entered the room, causing the windows to open wider, letting more light into the dark room. Some of it fell upon the broken toy, the light was apparently reflected by the glassy eyes and blinded the surprised girl. Her eyes closed out of instinct, her hand flying up to shield them from the bright rays.

Then, she heard a dull clacking sound at her right, exactly where the nightstand was; something hit the floor. And odd feeling struck her.

_Something's wrong here. _

The foreigner tried to open her eyes but some force seemed to hold them tightly shut. Moreover, her body started to lose its strength, it was as if something was sucking the very life out of her tired limbs.

Now she was _really_ scared. Wonderland was not a safe place, that's for sure, but it's even scarier when you can't understand or see the cause of your discomfort.

The foreigner's body was still laying upon the now crumpled sheets when a quite big shadow bent over her. Using all her will, she forced her eyes to open up, even for a little bit. The figure, right above her, was quite blurry, the shape reminded her of a human being. A quicken glance to the right confirmed her suspicions - the nightstand was empty.

"Who is it? Or what?" Her voice came out far too weak, she meant it to sound angry but it looked like her vocal cords were lacking energy to obey her wishes.

Much to her surprise, she received an answer, in a quite high and childish voice, there was a slight metal sound to it, she noted absentmindedly.

"Sorry, lady, please bear with this for a little while, okay?"

_Bear with what, exactly?, _she desperately wanted to ask.

"I only have this one chance so please forgive me!" This time, the voice seemed louder and more human-like.

Her body, on contrary, felt… unusually numb, all of a sudden. She wanted to raise her hand, to grasp whoever it was and demand a decent explanation, but her arm refused to move and with dread she realized that she was beginning to lose the feel of it.

Then everything went black as a shadow consumed the rest of her mind, pushing her body into an unknown place.

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"Alice."

…

"Alice?"

A deep voice filled the entirely empty halls of the Tower of Clover. A man with strikingly long ultramarine hair made his way through the wide corridors until he stepped in front of one of the many doors.

_He was so sure that he heard Alice's voice back then… Normally she would show up by the time she was back but today seemed to be an exception._

And Julius (this was indeed the clockmaker himself) didn't favour such exceptions at all. His mind was at peace as long as the young woman showed up, if only to make him some nice smelling coffee. Whenever she forgot to do so, he noticed, his mind would make up crazy ideas and make him even more uncomfortable. _What if something has happened to her?_

The clockmaker cautiously opened the door and peeked inside. The girl's room seemed empty. The only thing which seemed off was the fact that the large windows at the back of the room were wide open. The coldness has already filled the room and a cold chill ran down his spine. Julius frowned; he clearly did not enjoy the sudden change of temperature.

_How unusual. Normally she would close them tightly when she's out._

The blue haired man shook his head. It was rare for the girl to forget something as simple as that. What made her open the large windows in the first place? It was winter, after all.

Slightly irritated, the clockmaker entered the room and shut them tightly, only to leave as quickly as possible. It was not proper to be in her room without the girl's approval, anyway. Finally, he took the safe option and decided to wait for the foreigner's arrival in his room instead, hoping that she would come back safe and sound.


	2. Chapter 2

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><p><em>It's cold. But at the same time it isn't. How can that be<em>?

As the young woman finally regained her senses, she found herself on her back, obviously. According to her back's complaints she was spread upon something hard and smooth. Her azure eyes studied the somehow unfamiliar dark ceiling, unusually far above the cold ground which she was, to her own dismay, been lying upon for about five minutes already.

_Firstly: I am in the prison realm._ There was no way she would mistake the dim lights and brick walls above her.

_Secondly: Something felt terribly wrong._ _Well, everything feels wrong, _she had to admit.

Finally, tired of thinking and her own fear of what she would have to find out next, the foreigner tried to move her hands. Surprisingly she succeeded in doing so, the arms feeling awfully light, almost weightless. The girl did her best to overcome the feeling of numbness inside her body and stood up while tentatively observing herself.

She wore the same blue apron dress, same striped stockings and shoes, but something was off…

_No, not just something. _The girl gasped as she finally began to understand the source of her discomfort. Her arms, now being all soft with stitches along them, moved stiffly while investigating the damage. _Quite obviously, this is not a human body, _she came to understand as she observed the doll-like features her body possessed.

_But this is ridiculous. Why should I turn into a doll? Maybe I'm dreaming? _The young woman tried to call out to Nightmare. The prison realm around her stayed as it was and it didn't look like it would turn into a hazy mess anytime soon. Moreover, it looked quite like the real thing and even Nightmare was not that cruel. The dream demon would never show her such an image, never in her dreams.

The girl quickly brushed the idea aside; this couldn't be a dream, after all. Which left only one explanation she could think of, namely that she was indeed in the prison realm. The young woman was even surprised with herself since she felt somewhat composed, despite the recent events and her current state. If she had learned anything as a foreigner in this land then it would be that fact that you should not be surprised at all, it was Wonderland and anything was possible here.

_Surely there must be a solution for my problem as well,_ at least she hoped so. She could not help her current state and should be at least somewhat optimistic. The foreigner tried to rewind the recent events, being happy that she was able to use her brain, with her being a stuffed doll and all.

_Just how the heck could that be possible? No, concentrate, Alice, now is not the time for this question. _

"So," she thought out loud, "the last thing I remember is that toy, its eyes, to be precise. Maybe that's the clue I am searching for? And what's with the 'I'm sorry' and 'please bear with it for a little while?'"

It must have something to do with that toy! What else could it be? That was the only suspicious thing in the whole room. And she got it from Joker! Suddenly she remembered the dangerous glint in White's ruby eye, something that followed her up until her room's door. The girl quickly came to the conclusion that he must know something. _If it's not completely his fault_, she added with dismay.

Either way she would have to speak with Joker, if only to somehow come out of this dreadful place.

_How did it go again? Ah, right, the place changed itself, sometimes quite randomly, letting me walk around the prison instead of the circus territory. _

The foreigner looked around, her azure eyes observing the surroundings quickly. At the beginning she had failed to notice the broken toys scattered around the whole place, now she was getting painfully aware of the practically huge mass of obviously unwanted toys around her. Not only that, but they seemed somehow bigger than usual, if not too big for the girl's taste. A torn teddy bear here, watching her closely with glassy eyes, on her right some huge plush dolls, one of them reminded the foreigner of a dog, paired with a mouse. There were just too many of them, letting the uneasiness inside the young woman turn into fear.

One thing was for sure, the girl had clearly seen enough toys for that day!

If only she was slightly bigger! The broken objects wouldn't be that intimidating if she had her original size back, _if _only, but fate was cruel with her that day, letting her shrink to the size of a small toy. With that, the wide hallways seemed endless, the metal bars and cells even emptier and far longer than before. The prison itself was not a pleasant sight on normal days, this, however, let the girl's memory of the dusty place fade quickly, being replaced with the new dreadful experience.

Collecting herself, the girl managed to clear her mind of any unnecessary thoughts. She needed to find Joker, first.

_Yeah, that's fine and all but where might he be? The prison was a huge place and who knows if there was even an end to it. _She did recall that it had endless capacities from one of her talks with White...

Unfortunately, the girl's problems did not end here.

One of the things our foreigner did not favour and was currently reminded of was the fact that the toys seemed quite lively and ready to attach themselves to her very own person. The glassy and soulless eyes painfully reminded the girl of her earlier experience and she would rather not have to deal with the weird creatures right now – if they were even alive. Their eyes seemed to look at her and her only. The girl shivered, trying to regain her composure.

_They're just some broken toys, nothing to be scared of. Yeah, if only… _Her ways of calming herself down did not seem convincing at all, not when the animal-shaped toys began to stir and move on their own.

The girl quickly shook her head. Even if they _did_ move…

_That's just silly! What could they do to me? Surely, they cannot be as bad as the owner of this place… _Another idea came up as she pondered on her possibilities.

_If I look at it that way, on the other hand… this could come in handy._ Finally, she made up her mind.

_This might be crazy, hell, maybe I'm finally beginning to turn into a mad person, too - but who cares. I have more important matters to worry about._

With that on mind, she cautiously approached the most decent-looking object within her reach – which happened to be a purely white rabbit-shaped doll.

_Now comes the worst part. _

"Um… excuse me?" It felt so weird talking to a doll. And to a rabbit-shaped one, too. _It's moving._ _Wah._ The girl shook her head, well, at least as much as her new body allowed her to.

The rabbit seemed to notice her, its gaze falling upon her figure.

Somehow she hoped it would answer her. The albino's glassy red eyes stared at her; the girl shivered before she allowed herself to continue. _Who knows what's on its mind? It could be nothing, of course. _

"Can you tell me where Joker is? See, I'm kind of new here…"

Something clicked; a mechanism began to turn inside the furry beast; with clumsy steps the unnerving rabbit began to approach her.

"So…" The girl took a step back."Is that a 'yes' or a 'no'? Ehm… anyway, forget it, will you?" _This was a bad idea, after all._

Another click, the rabbit's head was now bent to the side, as if showing its surprise.

The rabbit seemed to have made up its mind as well, its next move consisting of grabbing the young woman's soft hand with its white paw and trying to lead her away.

"Hey, what do you think you're doing?" _Really now, is it because that guy was a rabbit or what?_

Despite her protests the rabbit's grip was quite strong but for once it was not the girl's determination which solved her predicament.

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"**That's my question, what the f*** **_**are**_** you doing**_**, if I may ask**_**?"**

**.  
><strong>

A big shadow covered them from behind, the cause fo it being a highly displeased redhead towering above the two of them.

"Hm? That's weird…" The warden clad Joker, she nicknamed him Black, looked around, his gaze not even once falling upon her small doll form.

"I thought I've heard that girl's voice here somewhere… kinda thought that idiot was lost again…" The warden scratched the back of his head, irritation clearly shown upon his face.

_Wha-… well, at least I've found him, no, that doesn't sound right, he found me, _the young woman corrected herself. Looking up at Joker was quite weird in itself, his high boots right in front of her nose suddenly looking rather dangerous… This Joker would not hesitate to simply kick her aside, she was sure of it.

_Well, it would be too much to ask for the other Joker to be here instead, _she figured, _I've got to accept what I get…_The pestering rabbit was still sticking to her like glue, the only difference being the stiff state it was in. Finally, she snapped. "Just let go, will you?" She managed to roughly shake it off, taking a few clumsy steps towards the warden.

"Ahem!" The girl cleared her throat, well, at least she tried to imitate that sound, given the fact that anatomically she wasn't able to do that anyway. Her round head was facing the figure above her, hoping to get his attention – which she luckily was granted when, a moment later, the redhead's ruby eye fixed on her tiny frame.

The result of her effort, however, did not match her expectations. She noted the indifference in his glance as he looked down on her body, as if not recognizing her as Alice, the foreigner. A shiver ran down her back. The girl knew too well how cruel the warden could be towards a small plaything such as her.

"What? How the f*** did that thing end up here? … I swear I need to talk to that b****** about his weird hobbies…" With a swift motion, the warden bent down and grabbed the familiar looking doll by its collar, holding it at his eye's level. "Hmmm… On the other hand, this thing is not poorly made; I could use it as a voodoo doll…"

"Hey, let go!" The foreigner felt rather uncomfortable and it kept getting worse with all the ideas the darker Joker spoke out loud. It was, unfortunately, not such a big pleasure to hang around, quite literally, above the ground, when your own fate lied in the hands of another; add the warden's inquisitive glare boring holes into her soft body to the list.

Joker's face was quite too close for the young woman's liking, too, she grew more uncomfortable with each second that passed. She kept telling herself that it was not fun at all while examining the perfect porcelain skin, a sign of spending too much time indoors; or the red locks, by some miracle always looking so smooth, framing neatly the well-shaped face. Now that she saw the deep ruby eye up close it seemed to swallow her inside its depths. The effect was far worse than usual. _Why were all Wonderland residents blessed with so much beauty, anyway? This was not fair…_ The girl crossed her arms, trying to come out of her stupor. "You know, Joker, it's not that funny to hang across from your face! Please, set me down!"

"It IS you!" The redhead seemed surprised for a moment, until a wide smug grin spread across his face. "Well, who wouldn't recognize that pestering character of yours?"

_Look at yourself, _she desperately wanted to spat back, but arguing with his kind was never a good idea. Instead she settled on glaring back the best way she could.

"You know…," he tapped his chin using free hand, as if being in deep thought, the grin still playing upon the red head's face, "you really fail at being intimidating, especially in THAT form. Well, this is kinda interesting, anyway… Who could have guessed that I'll be given such an amusing sight?" With his free hand, he playfully poked the girl's cheeks while the latter did her best to slap his fingers. For some unknown reason which was too difficult for Alice to uncover, the warden found it awfully amusing to tease her soft cheeks.

And just as she had thought, the conversation was going nowhere. _Not that White would be any better._ She shivered at the thought.

"Just shut it, will you please? I've got quite a problem here and I believe it's partly your counterpart's fault."

"What did you say? Care to explain, _little miss_?" To her inner delight, she managed to catch his attention and successfully stop the assault of her poor face. The ruby glare upon her still felt quite uncomfortable, but the conversation was successfully progressing and that was all she needed at the moment. Better she made it quickly.

"That's what I wanted to say all along! Look, there was this broken toy I found on my way to the circus and White let me keep it. When I came back to my room there was a flash of light, everything turned dark and something spoke to me, and then I ended up here!"

"So what does this f***** have to do with me?"

"Nothing, I just wanted to ask if you could please take me to White! That's all I want, nothing more! See, I can't even walk properly in this new shape…" Perhaps, the foreigner thought, the warden will be kind enough to let her see his counterpart. The girl had no idea what to do next, but she did need to speak to White since he obviously knew something, at least she hoped, and maybe later on she will look for that toy, whatever it was. She needed to start somewhere, anyway!

"Hey, what's with that face? You sure you don't wanna stay like that? Looks quite nice to me… you know, you could still become my voodoo doll if you like." Now, that was something she definitely did not plan on doing. The girl countered the warden's cunning smirk with a glare, or something which looked somewhat intimidating.

"Black! Please stop with all your comments! I know I'm pestering you and all but will you please help me? I wouldn't bother you if I had any other choice…"

Bright azure orbs stared intently into the ruby eye of the prison's owner, as if trying to overpower the opponent in a staring contest.

"..."

"Please?"

"Heh, geez…" At last, the warden let out an annoyed sigh, obviously tired of the pointless staring. His voice was rough and the manner of speech rugged, as always, still, as she heard the redhead's next words she knew instinctively that there was no hidden malice behind.

"But don't f****** complain if anything goes wrong! I'm really not in the mood to listen to some annoying girl's complaints…"

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_Does this mean…? _

Her persistence has obviously paid off! Hell, it even surprised herself, the darker Joker was usually not someone who would obey to someone's wishes; if anything then he would rather do the opposite. Perhaps it was her lucky day, or it was some of Black's good days… was that even possible? The girl felt herself relax at the thought that she had achieved some progress. A feeling told her that she could trust this Joker's words, even if they were hurtful on surface, they surely weren't meant to cause her harm. At least she hoped so.

"And you!" The warden's harsh glare turned against the white rabbit at his feet. "Stop messing around with her, did I make myself clear? That goes for all of you! You f****** do this all the time…" his voice trailed off, as if the redhead suddenly grew aware of the girl's presence.

A moment later, without any warning, Alice felt herself being moved, luckily not as harsh as she thought it would be; the next moment she found herself sliding smoothly into the left breast pocket of the warden's uniform. She didn't fit in completely; her upper body was outside, allowing the girl a good view of her surroundings.

_This is ridiculous, completely ridiculous…_, she kept telling herself mentally.

And little did she know that it were exact the same words the warden kept repeating in his mind.

And off they went; luckily the redhead refrained from making any other comments like he usually did.

It felt shaky at first, the girl felt each step he took but finally she got used to the new feeling. It reminded her of one of those rides in the Amusement Park. _If only it was just a ride… _The girl sighed, hoping that the warden would keep his promise.

The foreigner tried to concentrate on her current problems, but her mind kept wandering off, distracted be the new experience she was having.

_It was indeed something new… After all, it's not every day that you get a free ride in a prison guard's pocket. _

The prison cells moved quickly, being left behind together with bunches of broken toys of all kinds.

_Well, at least they pretend to be silent and quite dead while Joker is around. _And who knows, maybe they were indeed just simple toys, nothing more, nothing less. It was so easy to believe in that, especially when she looked at their motionless forms.

It didn't last long until both of them found themselves surrounded by the colourful circus tents, the bright rays of the sun shining down mercilessly upon their heads.


	3. Chapter 3

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"**Hey, Joker. What. The. F***. Is. This!"**

"My, my, you're in a really bad mood today, Joker! Is something the matter?"

The jester clad Joker flashed his counterpart a wide smile while cocking his head to the side. He was conveniently sitting on his usual table, enjoying the warm breeze blowing across the circus territory. Not a single cloud dared to cover the wonderful blue sky above Joker's circus. His look-alike stood across the table, busy with darkening the mood, his ruby eye glaring at the circus master, mouth full of unsaid insults.

"Why… indeed it is! Or would you care to explain to me THIS!" With that, the warden roughly gestured towards the small doll-shaped foreigner who was currently enjoying (well, not exactly if we were to listen to her complaints) a nice ride in the prison guard's pocket.

The said girl has been quiet up until now, impatiently waiting for an opportunity to speak.

By following his counterpart's gesture White turned his attention to the small doll. At once, the girl realized that she would have preferred to sink deeper into the dark pocket. It was embarassing enough to be caught in a position like this. _Why was that stupid pocket not deep enough, anyway?_ Not that it wouldn't look ridiculous, anyway.

"Oh, is that you, Alice? Don't tell me you've run into trouble on your way back home?" White's surprised reaction appeared to be genuine but the brunette knew better than trust this Joker's words.

"Well, what does it look like, White?" the girl finally snapped, being stared at was making her feel quite uncomfortable. She did her best to cover her embarassment with an annoyed expression. (It was always better not to give this Joker any chances to make fun of her.)

The circus master, still quite unfazed by her outburst, continued to study his favourite foreigner's new form, the inquisitive ruby eye taking in the details. "How cute you are, young miss, and it looks like you've gotten used to Joker's pocket! How about it: you stay in this cute shape and play with us forever!"

"No thanks." Her reply was quick and hard, leaving no space for arguments. _As if she would ever do that! She wasn't stupid and did not plan on staying like this until the end of times! This way she'd never be able to return to her old world…Not to mention all the consequences.  
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"So cold~…" White sighed overdramatically while straightening himself, a moment later his face grew more serious. „It looks like there's no use in trying to convince you. Well, I should probably try to help you, then. You are a valuable guest, after all."

"About time! I'm getting tired of this sh**!"

"Now, now, please be patient, Joker. But let us sit here first," White pointed at the table with a smooth gesture of his hand. "Joker, will you sit down, too? You should probably stay for a while."

"Like hell I will. Well, let's just get this over with. I don't have all the f****** time in the world." The warden remained in his standing position, arms crossed and leaning onto the table.

Alice was carefully set onto the table (she mentally thanked Black for his consideration), feeling extremely uncomfortable with having to deal with two look-alikes, one ruby eye glinting with mischief, the other one glaring holes into her vulnerable body and his counterpart. It was a good thing that looks could not kill.

Finally, as everyone was more or less settled down, the jester clad Joker started. "I suppose the young miss should tell me the whole story, if that is alright with you." After a short nod coming from the little brunette's sewn body he continued, "Well then, let me know all the details, if possible."

With that, the girl explained the former events, hoping that somehow, Joker, or both Jokers, would know what to do.

The circus master was listening intently, with a smile here and there. His counterpart was seemingly bored, not caring about the loud yawns coming from his widely opened mouth.

"In short," the jester summarized, "you suspect that it has something to do with that little guy I let you keep."

"Yes, that's the only idea I have."

"Well, changing a body for a period of time is not impossible… You remember that this little guy was broken?" She gave him a quick nod. Of course she did.

"You see, Alice, actually he was not able to walk anymore, as you've probably noticed before. He was practically broken, of no use to any of us. Well, to _most_ of us…" The girl noticed a hidden message behind the emphasized word but thought nothing of it.

"…So I gave him to you, since he had no other purpose here, anyway. But who could have guessed that the empty thing was still trying to stick to its life…"

"What do you mean?" The girl looked quizzically as she tried to combine the facts.

"Oh, that's quite easy." The circus master leaned back, the small bells on the jester hat jingled happily. Their sound did not suit the tense atmosphere, however. "By borrowing your freedom, your role as a foreigner, the little guy should be able to walk around for a while – in a human shape, while you will take his doll-like form."

"But that's…!" The foreigner cut her response; she wanted to show her sceptical attitude but reminded herself that nothing was impossible in Wonderland. Perhaps what Joker told her was true, after all?

Finally, the brunette broke out of her thoughts as Black finally got the chance to voice his opinion. He was still leaning casually against the table, playing around with a small knife. (She really had no idea when or where he got that thing from.) The knife was tossed skilfully in the air and captured by the same hand after drawing a graceful circle.

"Geez, that brat is tired of his f****** life! The punishment is at least 100.000 laps of time spent in prison, if not worse!" White nodded solemnly. "Yes, indeed, you are right."

_100.000 laps? How much would that be? _Alice pondered silently on that question, quickly coming to a dead end. After all, it was impossible to tell how long a night or a day was...

"As for you, Alice." Hearing her name being called, the girl turned her attention back to the circus master. "It looks like we are as much interested in catching him as you do. Such a rude breaking of rules must not be tolerated." _Oh? Now, that sounded like good news for her._ Her attention was brought back quickly and she listened carefully to the circus master's words.

"I know for a fact that one of our members was usually playing with this guy… It was a girl, I believe." White tapped his chin, as if being in thought. A sly smile was placed on his face as he spoke his next thoughts out loud. "And by chance I saw her heading out to the city just an hour before you came."

_Was he speaking of…? _The brunette was friends with a few of the jester children that run across the circus grounds. Perhaps he was speaking of that girl that she talked with from times to times? Alice recalled a small child with short brown hair and puffy orange striped dress sticking to her like glue. Now that she thought about it… the girl did seem quite down the last time she saw her.

Bits by bits the brunette finally started to get a picture of the whole thing. If the jester girl was indeed missing her friend then surely she was going to meet with him if she got the chance! On the other hand, it also meant that the brunette had practically stolen a precious thing from a child! Alice sighed. _It was a bad idea, after all! And to think that she only wanted to let someone repair the cute toy…_

The revelation didn't leave the warden clad Joker indifferent, either. The redhead was almost fuming, the small knife long forgotten on the table.

"Hey, Joker, don't tell me you knew this brat would f***** try and do this and didn't do anything against it? You want me to do some extra work and chase this brat for breaking the rules?"

"Well, what do _you_ think, Joker?"

"I'm f****** hundred percent sure that you did this on purpose!"

"Well, I do admit that I had a certain feeling about this…"

„You…! *****!" The warden's hands were gripping the table's surface, his knuckles turning white from the pressure. His intensive glare was met with a sickeningly sweet smile of his counterpart.

"My, getting angry, aren't we, Joker? Please don't forget that we have a guest right here."

During the fiery communication, the girl felt herself getting smaller and smaller between the two fronts. Suddenly it didn't matter anymore whoever was at fault. She simply wanted her old body back so that she could walk around as she pleased. If only everything could go back and be like it was in the morning… She did feel guilty about the incident and pitied the jester girl and her comrade. Perhaps all they wanted was to meet each other once again… Which was not possible since the toy was lost and broken. Appreciation of friends and playthings was so rare in this cruel and magnificent land... The brunette could picture the small girl, at last meeting with her friend.

_But what would become of herself?_ The sudden realization sobered the girl's mind, showing her the bitter fact that she could possibly stay a stuffed doll for an unknown period of time... _if she did not find the culprit soon, that is._

Since the foreigner was busying herself with her grim thoughts, she missed the fact that White somehow had managed to cool down his counterpart's head for a bit. The conversation could finally progress normally.

"Anyway, both criminals should be punished severely, right, Joker?"

"Yeah, a criminal should be neatly put in a cell and rot in there for the rest of his life, that's all there is to it." _Along with you, by the way._ (The girl was sure that the warden added mentally something like that.) Black's eye avoided his look-alike's gaze, his tone lacking the usual excitement.

Despite the situation she was in, the word criminal sounded quite harsh for the girl's liking. Although she was not pleased with her current situation, she did pity the girl and her friend. Therefore, she spoke her opinion out loud.

"Isn't it a bit hard, though?"

Now, she managed to get the attention of both redheads. They looked curiously, a bit astonished even. _Did she say something wrong?_ She still continued, feeling slighly insecure.

"I think it's a bit too much, putting both the girl and that guy into prison and all that. They didn't do anything wrong, after all!"

The first thing breaking the silence after she spoke was the prison guard's disdained voice.

"Are you sick, girl? Did your mind get damaged or what? No, wait, you brain is reduced to some fluffy filling, that's why you talk rubbish!"

Before he could proceed any further, the circus master stepped in, trying to stop things from getting worse. However, despite his seemingly good intentions, the girl noticed a dangerous glint in the jester's deep ruby eye, something that hasn't been there before. She shivered as he spoke the next few sentences.

"What he means is, such a crime is not to be forgiven, especially since it's our dear Alice we're talking about! We could never forgive it if someone hurt or caused any kind of harm to our most important guest." Again, there was this steely sound in White's voice. At times like this his true colours were showing off to the world outside while his perfect and nice exterior cracked like an ordinary eggshell. The brunette nodded mentally._ Indeed, it is always dangerous to forget this Joker's real character._ _Who knows what his true intentions were?_

With that on mind, she turned to White.

"You're helping me because I'm a foreigner, right? Is this why I'm your so-called _most important guest_?"

"Hmm… that's a very good question, my dear Alice." In an instant, the hard edge in his voice vanished. He let his chin rest on his hand, as if being in deep thought, and guided his free hand towards the girl. Carefully, one slender finger traced an invisible line on her soft cheek. The gesture seemed tender enough but still too intimate for the girl's liking. As if sensing her discomfort, he pulled back and continued his explanation, as if nothing has happened."_Alice_, you see, you are our regular here, the only person who visits us frequently. So, of course you are valuable to us!"

It did seem convincing enough since the likes of Joker were not the most favourite role-holders out there. Still, the brunette felt the sudden tension in the air around White too uncomfortable, too scary, and she didn't like it one bit.

As if sensing that the discussion was getting off-topic, it was Black who chose to intervene this time.

"Hey, aren't you forgetting someone? When will you two finish? You're making it sound like we're some lonely outcasts who desperately need some attention! That pathetic discussion-"

"-is already finished. Right, Alice?" The jester gave the girl one of his brightest smiles, an indication that the talk was over. "Now, that's settled then. You should probably get going, Joker, and please take care of our lovely lady; I don't want to see any dirty spots on her. If the lady complains then I'll let you take sewing lessons and patch her up~"

"Like that'll ever happen!" Black snapped at his counterpart and then paused, before finally realizing what his look-alike implied with his last sentence. "Wait, what? You're now telling me to go play her f****** baby sitter and look for that brat?"

"Well, yes, that's what I said. And please, don't make such a fuss, Joker."

Black's fist suddenly collided with the table, making the girl jump up in surprise. "I'm not going anywhere, I still have a job to do! Besides, it was your idea and partly your fault, so why don't you actually get your ass to move?"

In response to that, White's hands shot up in defence .

"My, my, please stop with that language of yours! And I'm actually very busy." The circus master gave his counterpart an innocent look and displayed one of his wide smiles. Still, the girl could tell that there was more behind that smiling mask. She looked, feeling quite helpless, from one Joker to the other, hoping that the table would stay in one piece when this conversation was finally over. She assumed that they probably did not want to help her at all. Nevertheless she would accept and be thankful for any help she got, voluntary or not, especially since she would be doomed if they refused to assist her. Even if other role holders like Nightmare would gladly offer their help… She still had to find a way of returning to the Tower of Clover with these small and soft feet, not mentioning the long distance between the circus and her place…

And somehow the girl had a great difficulty imagining Joker escorting, well, bringing her home.

In the meanwhile, the two look-alikes were still negotiating, getting too loud for her liking.

"Also, Joker. You never help me with the circus – not that you would be a great help since you scare off the customers as well as the employees with that unprofessional attitude of yours – and I am quite busy and what is a circus without a leader?"

"You b******! You know that you enjoy working with the f****** prisoners! But I hate that damn circus and those little brats! That's not fair and you know it! Also, why do I have to take care of what you've screwed up? It's your f***** fault since you've let her take this stupid toy! I'm definitely not in the mood for chasing after some brat and tidying up after you had your fun!"

"But Joker, who could have guessed that he would be this stubborn and break the rules? And you know that we have to host another performance soon and we don't want to get punished if I don't prepare it well~ Or are you telling me to let it slide this time? You know that we can't do that, Joker."

"That's not the problem here!"

_They were ignoring her. Simply ignoring. _

The brunette was starting to feel quite irritated.

_If they didn't want to help her, then they could just say so! And she didn't have the time to listen to their pointless discussion. Were they always like that? _

Finally, the girl decided to end the struggle and spoke up.

"Um, I'm sorry to interrupt the two of you…" Her words landed on deaf ears, the look-alikes still ignoring her, being too busy with themselves.

"**I'm not going!"**

"Try to think positively, Joker. You need a good walk, anyway!"

_Seriously, will they ever listen to her?_

"JOKER!" the girl yelled, giving her best to get their attention and quickly succeeding.

Two identical role-holders faced the girl simultaneously, finally taking a break from their argument. The prison guard was slightly out of breath; his counterpart looked fresh as ever.

"Look, Joker. Both of you, it's okay if you don't want to help me, it's too much trouble and partly my own fault, anyway. If you could just somehow bring me to the Tower of Clover… that would be enough. I can understand that you don't like me very much, especially you, Black-…" Before she could finish her sentence, she was hastily interrupted by the louder Joker.

"**You're not the problem here! It's not like I hate you or anything! That silly nickname is irritating, however…" **

"…"… _what was that? Perhaps, her ears got a little bit deaf after listening to their argument?_

"…"

The circus master was silent for a moment, just like his counterpart who finally, for once, realized that he spoke too much.

"**Wait, I take that back."**

The warden was met with a widely spread victory grin of his counterpart and a speechless doll, both made him regret his terrible choice of words in an instant. And he was never good with words, anyway…

The jester, however, was beaming at the two of them, fully enjoying the convenient outcome. He clasped his hands and stood up while carefully taking the girl's small body and presenting her solemnly to his counterpart.

"Oh, it's fine then, Joker. Good luck with the search and enjoy yourselves!"

The azure eyed girl was still unable to comprehend how the situation changed so quickly. Black was glaring at the nearest bushes and sighed heavily as he took the girl from the circus master's hands. He let her slide inside the familiar pocket, the movement accompanied with a grumpy 'Just f****** forget what I said'.

Apparently, it was a sign that the warden accepted his defeat.

Suddenly, the young woman felt like sighing heavily, wondering what the coming day will have in store for her. It would be difficult enough... and she still had to ponder on what exactly he meant with the fact that he didn't hate her. Well, she did have all day and more to carefully think about it.

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_A/N: Thank you very much for your kind reviews and advice! For now, I upload the still unbeta-ed chapters so please forgive me the grammar mistakes and typing errors. m(-_-)m I'll update the chapters as soon as I've found a person who is ready to correct my mistakes. :) I'm still learning and hope that I'll improve my style as time goes by._ So don't forget: criticism and reviews are always welcome, even if they seem harsh!


	4. Chapter 4

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Alice really couldn't complain about her new partner's motivation since they've reached the main part of the city in no time.

Their way led the two of them trough a narrow street in a relatively empty part of town. Her _escort, _as she jokingly called the prison guard, seemed to be quite sure of where to go and how to navigate through the relatively dark and shallow places.

_Perhaps it was due to Black's role that he knew the darker sides of the city so well?_ The foreigner decided not to dwell on that topic too much. Sometimes, curiosity could be quite a dangerous thing. And who knows? Maybe the answer that she would find would not be a pleasant one at all.

And so they walked towards an unknown destination (unknown to Alice, but she hoped that Black knew where he was going. His pace seemed steady and he didn't stop once to look if they were still on the right way…).

_Well, _the brunette had to correct herself_, Black was walking. _Alice, on the other hand, was looking around curiously, the sightseeing being the only thing she could do in her useless shape.

After all, it was not the same if you were ten times smaller than normal. It was not like the constant worry wasn't plaguing her mind... but there were still so many things which caught her eye and distracted the girl's curious eyes. The world around her, the dim but still warm lights and colourfully decorated houses under the orange evening sky seemed friendly and welcoming as ever. Despite her small size and their enormous height the brunette felt safe enough to be able to enjoy the view.

Her restless azure orbs wandered around, until they fixed on Black's pale face. With each step he took, his golden earring swayed back and forth, sometimes reflecting the light from the lanterns they passed. It was funny how she actually began to take notice of small details only after she became small herself.

And more importantly, being alone with this Joker didn't seem as scary as it once had appeared to her.

As she let her thoughts wander further, another thing caught her attention.

_A ticking sound._

Unconsciously, her small round hand touched the black material where the body's warmth seeped through.

Her ears could easily detect a steady rhythm.

_Tick-tock._

_Tick-tock._

It was a wonderfully hypnotizing sound.

It was never too fast, never too slow. It was always the same.

On its own accord, her head shifted closer to be able to catch the faint sound. By now, her ear was firmly pressed against the black uniform and, ultimately, the wardens firm chest.

The act itself could almost be considered being a forbidden one, such thing as listening to a clock's ticking, something with great importance in this world.

(Later on, she felt slightly bad about it, her own behaviour reminding the girl of a certain knight of hearts.)

She inhaled and exhaled slowly, never minding the fact that her anatomy shouldn't really allow her this action. Thinking too much was never good with these kinds of things.

Truth to be told, Alice would have expected a faint smell of gunpowder, or blood. Judging from Black's role, she assumed that these kinds of smells would attach themselves firmly to his dark clothes. But no, there was not even a single trace of metal nor any other unpleasant scent which could betray the redhead.

_This is the closest I've ever been to another person in Wonderland so far… _And it wasn't half as bad as she'd imagined. (Alice didn't count Peter White's advances, of course. Alice tended to block these out of her mind.)

Her cheeks coloured slightly as she realized what she just thought and did. Quickly, she withdrew her guilty hand, almost feeling like a criminal, making sure that the warden didn't see any of it.

Luckily, Black's ruby gaze wasn't directed at her, so she could calm down for now.

_Black…_

It was a nickname she once gave this Joker to separate him and his counterpart. It was the first thing Alice had thought of back then, the best way to describe his sinister character. However, now that she thought about it, she didn't know much about the two role-holders.

There was, however, one thing which the girl was sure of.

If Black really disliked his current task then she would already be in the nearest trashcan.

Sure, the thought was not a pleasant one but it was calming, nevertheless.

Still, Alice did not forget to remind herself that she had to be careful. Her tiny life lay in the hands of another person, a seriously dangerous role-holder, and she needed to keep that in mind. Right now, Black wouldn't abandon her in the middle of the street, but he could always change his mind. It was a disturbing thought that, despite all that, she felt strangely calm and even comfortable.

"Already enjoying your new form?"

The sudden distraction returned her thoughts to the role-holder whose presence she was granted with. She blinked once, until finally her mind was able to process the said words. Her head shot up and she noticed that the redhead was already looking forward, his ruby eye giving her a quick amused glance before turning back to the road.

"What? Of course not." Alice tried to sound calm and cover her slight embarrassment. _And there are things you definitely don't need to know, Black_, she added quickly.

_Was it that easy to tell what she felt like?_ The girl couldn't allow herself to let her guard down. Perhaps this Joker was not as sneaky as his counterpart, but nevertheless he was a dangerous person. And what did he expect of her, anyway? She certainly knew better than to complain and get on his nerves. She chose to answer honestly.

"It's not like crying or yelling will help me, you know."

"Hmpf." It looked like the warden quickly lost the interest in any kind of conversation, choosing to look ahead instead.

Both remained silent, the only sound being the steady clacking of black boots against the pavement.

Suddenly, she spoke up, breaking the silence between them.

"I wonder… What he feels like right now." The words came out soft and she was pretty sure that the redhead didn't care enough to listen to her thoughts. However, the brunette was proven wrong as a blood-red eye looked at her briefly with an unsaid question within.

Feeling encouraged by the redhead's reaction, the girl continued her loud thoughts.

"I mean, this boy, he sounded pretty apologetic back then. I'm not sure what I would do if I were him…" She paused while gathering her thoughts. "But somehow, I can understand him. To want to meet a friend so badly, it's quite admirable_." _

_So unlike myself,_ she thought wryly, at least he is ready to sacrifice everything to get what he wants. What did she ever do? She didn't even know where to go and which path to choose. If only she could be so adamant about getting home, to her loving sister. Or be sure that she wants to stay here forever.

The girl shook her head. This dangerous train of thoughts was spoiling her mood.

Luckily, she was spared from her grim thoughts getting worse as her dark clad companion spoke up, his tone harsh like a slap, pulling her out of the misery she brought herself in.

"Stupid, aren't you?" He snorted, the slight frown on his face shoving quite obviously his disdain. "Keep thinking like that and you'll stay forever in that pitiful from." The girl felt a strong tap against her soft forehead and realized it was Black's hand which caused the sudden assault. She tried to cover her head while letting out an annoyed cry.

"Hey! Stop it! I'm still a human and not some little puppet!"

"Why should I? You should f****** show that you still have some sense if you want to be treated like one! 'Cause a bit more selfishness would be healthy for your mellow brain."

The small fight was over as her opponent pulled back. The brunette couldn't help but let out an annoyed sigh of exasperation.

_Joker really does like messing around with me...  
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However, something else came to her mind as the thought about the rude invasion of her private space. It was a pleasant discovery, to say the least. Her azure eyes went back to observing her surroundings absentmindedly, her mind, however, couldn't help but feel grateful for the change of topic.

And indeed, she noted contently, her black thoughts were all gone, carried out of sight like old withered leaves by a strong autumn breeze. The coldness, caused by dark thoughts occupying her mind, was replaced by peaceful warmth against her back, allowing her to relax for the time being. (To tell the truth, the said warmth, as the brunette realized later on, was actually of physical nature… but she shouldn't think too much about it for now.)

Black took another few steps until they found themselves basking in the hot rays of sun, facing the busy crowd on the main street.

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The curious, no, scared and all kind of other repulsive looks were hard to miss, especially when you were on the receiving end.

The suppressed whispers weren't meant to be this loud, nevertheless they still reached her ears without a problem.

_"It's Joker..."_

**"Joker...!"**

_**"Oh no, what could the warden possible want in the city?"**_

_"I knew I shouldn't have come today... he can't be after me, right?"_

**_"Let's leave... before he looks at us."_**

The azure eyed girl shivered slightly, wishing that she could shrink even further and escape the tension she was exposed to. She sighed._ It was indeed a pity that the small pocket wouldn't allow her to hide her body from the prying eyes and hushed whispers. _

They were currently walking along a particularly long and wide street, full with workers, customers, cats, mice and any other kind of people.

Such a repulsive reaction was to be expected, however. She was together with a role-holder; as a result, it was only natural that they would stand out this much. The girl could be a part of this crowd, if she didn't know it any better, so trying to reason with the faceless was only of little use.

_This almost feels like a déjà-vu… _The girl suddenly remembered the way people reacted towards Nightmare; and the dream demon was considered to be quite a dangerous creature quite indeed. Not only was he able to read a person's thoughts to his heart's content, the caterpillar (as some preferred to call him) had many other hidden talents within himself. Who knows what other dangerous abilities he possessed? Despite all that, Nightmare would probably never hurt a passing person, at least she hoped so. But Joker was a completely another type of person…

Indeed, the foreigner has almost forgotten that the likes of Joker were also avoided like a plague by the people of Wonderland. Especially role-holders seemed to hold a grudge against the redheads.

_They didn't seem to have this problem while enjoying the circus, though, _the brunette added quietly.

However, certain experiences have shown the foreigner that playing with Joker was always a dangerous thing to do. Unpredictable, cunning and sneaky – surely people would feel uneasy beside such a dangerous role-holder.

…Finally, being tired of the faceless crowd, the azure-eyed girl turned her attention to the man who was receiving the unwanted attention of the nosey townspeople. She noted that his facial expression didn't seem to change at all from the usual frown he wore most of the time. The red eye, however, twitched slightly, showing off his irritation. Black looked as if he simply ignored the annoying stares but something like that couldn't leave him indifferent, she was sure of that.

"People in the city don't seem to like you very much…," the girl stated calmly, finally breaking the silence between the two of them.

_Perhaps a small conversation will help to ease the tension…_

Black's pace stayed the same, still even and confident, head held high, as if trying to signalize that he was made of better stuff than the annoying spectators. It was a bit funny to look at, as the girl noticed after a while. And if she thought about it, he really looked like a white crow among hundreds of black ones. Or perhaps it should be the other way around?

"Hn." Black's answer came out unexpected, immediately distracting Alice from her thoughts. "Like I care for those a*******'s f****** opinion."

She desperately wanted to roll her eyes at that colourful language.

"You know, Black, swearing won't make you popular."

"Just shut your mouth! You can be sure as hell that I won't even try to act like your super-polite 'White-san'." He spat the last words out as if they were some bitter-tasting medicine. "Damn, this is all getting on my nerves…"

_So why don't you throw me down and walk away, then?_, Alice wanted to ask but chose to be wise and therefore kept quiet. After all, Black didn't seem to want to do that in the first place so why give him the idea?

And even she wouldn't like being stared at like that. Somehow, Alice could understand why he disliked crowded places that much.

_ It is a bit lonely, being a black crow among the white ones._

_._

_._

_.  
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The sun was still just below the horizon, which, unfortunately, could never help with telling how much time has passed. For all Alice knew, it could go up in a few minutes, turning the evening to day.

The azure-eyed girl shifted impatiently in the relatively tiny pocket. They've been walking aimlessly for a while now and she began to question this Joker's intentions. She imagined that a search for someone would be slightly different.

"Hey, um, when are we going to actually look for that guy?" she asked, while locking her eyes with Black's face, and showing her obvious doubt. It was such a pain to have to look so high up in order to see his facial expression, therefore she was quite annoyed when she realized that the redhead was looking ahead and ignoring her.

Suddenly, Black came to a halt. The girl followed his intensive gaze, prepared to see anything from a stand with newest weapons up to a shop with torture instruments or anything else of that sort.

But what her curious eyes met, was a simple… restaurant.

It was one of those many places with a peaceful atmosphere around them. Brightly shining lanterns greeted happily any passersby and lured potential customers to the place. The few people occupying some of the many tables in front of the building were an unusual sight, especially at this time of day. The evenings were this times when most of the customers arrived, she knew it from experience since she worked part-time in such a place to keep herself occupied.

_But more importantly… What would Joker want in such a place, anyway? _The warden looked quite out of place in his prison guard uniform, which was a huge contrast to the bright colours surrounding him.

"Black?" her voice held an obvious question which the redhead finally chose to answer.

"What? I'm hungry and I won't f****** move a single feet until I get something nice to eat."

_What? He's not serious, is he? _

She tried to get a better view of Black's face.

"Eeh? Hey, wait, shouldn't we look for that guy first?"

"What? You think I'll be doing this for free?"

_Geez… it would have been too good to be true if he did this without getting anything in return, huh?_ Alice sighed, scolding herself once more for being too naïve.

She didn't expect him to add anything to that one, but as he did, she was surprised to see something which could be described as a serious look upon his face.

"Joker only wants to toy around with them. Well, I'm not planning to be a part of his amusements! And you're going to get your body back one way or another…"

Now, _this_ caught the girl's interest. She also felt that it wouldn't be right to punish a child and her playmate; it just felt wrong to the young woman. Knowing Joker, it was an easy task to imagine how he would deal with the so-called rule breakers. The azure eyed brunette nodded silently to herself. She definitely needed to think of a way to let them escape their unjust punishment. It was never too early to think about it and if fate was kind enough to give them more time then she should be grateful for it. And it was not like she would be chained to this doll-like body forever just because they stopped at this place for an hour or so.

At least she hoped so.

On the other hand, wouldn't it benefit both sides, too?

She figured that it was not every day that Joker got the chance to get out of this dusty prison.

For a moment, she closed her eyes, wishing that it was all just a bad dream, hoping that it would take to wake up is to open her eyes once more.

_Why, why do I end up in such situations? Since when did I become so tolerant towards this madness? _Perhaps Black was right and her brain did take some damage while being stuffed into this soft body, disabling her reason without her knowledge.

Was it wrong to stay calm and not to panic right away?

_Questions after questions, and not a single answer. _

Whatever the answer was, as she watched the red locks swaying from side to side, barely missing her own tiny head, something told her that it was okay. _Somehow, everything will end well. _Just like it always did for her. She didn't know where this confidence came from, nor did she hear a silent voice at the back of her mind, whispering to her truths she was not ready to hear yet.

And it's not like her 'escort' will need hours in order to finish a meal, anyway.

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"Hey, is that all you have here? I want more!"

Alice watched silently the scene as a faceless, tired looking waiter made his way to their table, trying not to waste any time. For almost hundredth time that day, she felt pity for the poor man.

For now, Alice was free and out of Black's pocket (which was quite nice and warm compared with the smooth surface of the table she was currently occupying).

"P-please, excuse our rudeness! We sincerely apologize... it's already late and it's just that you've already eaten most of our-..." the stuttering waiter cut off his last words as he received a ruby glare from his new customer.

"I don't want any f****** excuses!"

Not being able to watch the faceless attendant any longer, the brunette turned her head back to their table. Her gaze rested on the many empty bowls and plates, still waiting to be fetched by the said waiter. As if in trance, her eyes followed the quickly moving hand which belonged to no other than Black.

A spoon.

Another one.

The strawberry cake disappeared way too fast,(and it looked quite delicious, by the way) each slice found its quick death in Black's eagerly awaiting open mouth.

The girl would have felt quite jealous if she were in her human form right now. This restaurant had the most delicious looking food which was made of the autumn's finest and ripe fruits.

She couldn't help but let another sigh escape her mouth. _Seriously, is this man for real? How big is his stomach? _And Black was so skinny, too._ Women would kill for that. _

"White was right, after all. You DO like food quite a lot. I hope you won't make the cook too desperate…" She could already imagine the frustrated stuff behind the scenes, with a crying cook added to complete the picture.

He left his feast for a short while, turning his attention to the small doll.

"Aah? What did you just say?"

Another sigh.

"Nothing, nothing." _'By the way, you've got some frosting on your chin', _she wanted to add but restrained herself from saying it out loud.

_Black is such a pig. Seriously, though, first he says I'm fat and then he stuffs himself full with food. _(She remembered clearly that day when he dared to accuse her of being fat; White quickly explained it with jealousy since she, the foreigner, was spoiled by each and every role-holder in this country. Free food and all kinds of delicious things were all included, of course.)

The foreigner huffed in annoyance, glancing to the side_. So that's how it's like to watch and not be able to eat the food. Now she was the one being jealous, huh? _

However, in truth, the girl didn't mind it that much.

She knew that the stubborn redhead would never ask directly and nicely for something. It would be covered with a demand, a rude remark or anything of that sort – as long as it was hurtful. It was not like she took it seriously, she never did. It took some time but sooner than later the girl had realized that he didn't mean half of the things he said.

White and Black were both similar in that particular way – they hid themselves behind their special facades, it was either a sweet and smiling one or the hard and cold exterior.

That didn't make them very popular with other role-holders… But she figured that they were quite bearable as long as you knew how to handle them correctly.

For now, she was content with watching the darker one out of the two redheads eat this heartily. Black seemed to like food quite a lot. And this time, the brunette couldn't stop the small smile forming itself on her tiny lips.

Another memory flooded her mind, one of the few times she spent with Peter White, the cold minister of the Castle of Hearts.

_Yes, I remember, now. We've been in a restaurant together, like now. The food was indeed quite delicious. _

"_By the way, what's your favourite food, Peter?" she asked him while curiously eyeing his plate, full of various delicious things._

"_Whatever my dear Alice likes is my favourite food!" The answer could be predicted easily._

"_No, I mean, for real. What do you like?"_

"_Hmm…" Two red eyes looked down at the table. He looked like he was in deep though before he granted her an answer._

"_It doesn't matter. To me, everything is fine. I don't particularly like anything." _

Soon after, the memory left Alice, allowing her to return to the present situation.

Her azure eyes watched the redhead across her, who was enjoying the served food (rather obviously, she added silently). Mentally, she compared the two different images and came quickly to a certain conclusion. She definitely liked watching _this_ better and she was content with seeing this side of Joker.

A small chuckle forced its way out of her mouth and died quickly, as the girl suppressed it, hoping that the redhead didn't notice. It would be a pity if the brunette spoiled the situation.

It was not often that she got to see Black, anyway. What the girl did remember, however, was the fact that this redhead seemed to fancy various kinds of foods. And she did definitely remember this one time when she arrived at White's place with hands full of bags with freshly made Christmas pastries. (A small shop in the snowy town around the Tower of Clover was famous for making all kinds of sweets. On top of that, there was this special offer she couldn't withstand. As a result, she ended up buying too much and having nothing better to do, she headed straight to the circus.)

Nothing in this world will ever make her forget Black's tantrum as his counterpart mentioned happily that they would make a small tea party, _just the two of them. _(Alice suspected it was all a joke to tease Black, but the latter would hear nothing of it.)

No, this Joker certainly didn't like to be left out.

It was cute, in its own way, of course.

After all, isn't it sad when you're all on your own and nobody even likes you? When did someone visit Joker, out of his own free will? It was no wonder that the two of them were trying to keep the girl by their side for a longer time. And weren't both of them the only role holders in their territory? That didn't make it any better.

Somehow, Alice already knew that these thoughts would lead her onto a dangerous path – on the other hand, weren't all paths of Wonderland filled with their own portion of madness and danger?

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"Eeh? Mr. Joker, what a surprise, I would have never expected to see you here!"

An overly cheery voice rang across the restaurant as its owner made his way to his newly found target. The tall man was obviously fond of the colour red, and one had to be blind to miss the fact that it was the Knight of Hearts in all his grace.

Black's (not exactly) thrilled look hinted that the red knight was definitely the least person he wanted to see. Alice could read the lines 'Oh no, not you again, go play somewhere else' in the bitter expression he made.

"What do I see here?" The knight's innocent gaze fell on the small doll's body. Instantly, the brunette saw two small sparkles of interest inside his blood-red eyes. _This can't be good… Who knows what will happen if Ace recognizes me!_

His next words, however, were a small relief for the nervously sweating girl.

"I would have never guessed that Joker had such tendencies, too… And here I thought that Mr. Skink was the only one who fancied cute things." this came out as a murmur, but for some reason Black's ears were exceptionally sharp this time. The said redhead, of course, didn't miss a single syllable.

"What did you say, _**Ace**_?" The knight's name came out quite sharp. Obviously, the warden was not amused. His lonely red eye twitched in annoyance as he rose up, abandoning the comfy chair.

In the meantime, Alice opted for the wiser decision and remained quiet, figuring that her interference would only worsen the dangerous confrontation. This is so typical of Black… his temper was rather short and the girl could already predict his next moves... on contrary to White, who would probably remain in his lower position, further mocking the red knight. She was never sure whether it was because of his self-confidence and superiority (since Joker was his territory's master and Ace simply a subordinate) or just because the ever smiling Joker felt like it.

"Ahaha, I just thought that you have a fine doll here, Mr. Joker, that's all!" The red knight scratched sheepishly the back of his head, as if trying to say that he didn't mean any harm. "I'm a little jealous, too… you want to trade? I wonder what Alice would say if she saw this? Or… I could always sell it to Peter! I bet he'd give his last piece of clothing away for this one! Ahahaha-…!" Ace's ringing laughter filled the air, the knight too caught up in his own fantasy to pay any attention to his surroundings.

If only Ace were a little more observant, then he would have noticed the poisonous aura forming itself around the small doll and her companion.

"**Ace.**" The short name came out as a hiss, the tone speaking more than the word itself, practically screaming 'DANGER!' at any passersby including the knight himself. "You really do push your luck. "

"Oh, is Joker angry at me all of a sudden? How comes? I didn't do anything…" – the night's gloved hand rested on the hilt of his sword - "at all!"

In one swift motion, the proud weapon was out of its sheath. Another second passed as the red knight struck at his opponent; his blood-red pair of eyes shining with excitement of the upcoming game.

To his disappointment, or rather to fuel his determination, Black's tall and lean body avoided smoothly the sudden attack, as if the warden was already expecting this to happen.

The girl's glassy eyes widened with horror.

_Oh no, they didn't plan on making a battlefield out of this peaceful place, did they?_

In the blink of an eye, she found herself between two fronts, feeling like a fish on the table, ready to be sliced to ribbons. For now both opponents were separated by the small round table she occupied, but sooner than later, she just knew it, that wouldn't be the case anymore.

Luckily, Alice felt her stuffed body being pushed out of the way and flying a few meters before she hit the hard ground.

The words around her spun around for a few moments, before coming to a halt. Despite the light dizziness there was only one thing busying her mind. Her small eyes stared absentmindedly at the evening sky.

She didn't know whether to be happy or angry at a certain prison guard who managed to get her out of the way until it was to late. She settled on figuring it out later on.

_But still, how thankful she was for her soft body right now! _

Not a single broken bone, she couldn't feel any pain at all. Maybe she should really stay like that forever, at least she wouldn't need to go to a doctor after it was over.

She sighed at her own silliness and tried to clear her mind.

Many panicked cried and sounds of hasty footsteps and collisions of sharp metallic objects reached the girl's ears as she silently prayed to stay in one piece after this was over.

But luck would not betray our favourite foreigner and for the second time that day, she was rescued from the cruel fate.

A small child's hand entered her vision, in the next moment she was picked up, her azure eyes meeting a familiar round shaped face of a certain jester girl.

"Oh, what a cute little doll!"

The small girl's face seemed to sparkle with happiness and Alice felt herself being held close to the small body. The jester girl's voice had a pleasant sound to it, just like Alice remembered it from their encounters in the circus territory.

"You want to come with me? Of course you want. We'll go and meet our friend, but psst!" A tiny finger rested in the child's lips, before she continued with a hushed voice. "It's a secret so don't spill anything, all right?"

Alice could only watch helplessly as the knight's and warden's frames became smaller and smaller in the distance.

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><p><strong>AN:** I feel like I've made many mistakes due to the large amount of text. ^_^; I definitely need to look over this chapter once again. (ーー;)

Also, originally I wanted to take Gray , but since SylviustheStrange has mentioned Ace I decided to use him instead of Mr. Skink :)


	5. Chapter 5

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Their surroundings emptied quickly but neither one of the two opponents seemed to take notice of that.

It was metal against metal, the huge and sharp blade of the Knight of Hearts being blocked by a relatively tiny and robust knife.

_Damn…! It's no wonder that this dumbass is rumoured to be the strongest out of all of us… _

Black's hand clenched firmly the cold object.

The circus knives proved to be useful, after all. Black was, for once, thankful that the knives used for performance were neatly made, the tiny blades being able to withstand such a powerful weapon, wielded by the best swordsman of Wonderland. Unfortunately, a good weapon was not everything you had to have in order to win against _the_ _Ace_.

The redhead could already feel the tiny droplets of salty liquid roll down his heated skin as he struggled to keep his breath even. _He_ would not show any weaknesses to this airhead.

Suddenly, a foreign voice reached their ears.

"Excuse me, please!"

Black's ruby gaze settled upon the intruder, instantly recognizing the card uniform of the Heart Castle. It was a normal soldier, wearing the number "3" on his wide chest. The poor man looked quite desperate and out of breath. _He was probably sent by that hysterical queen to search for the straying knight_. The redhead snorted. _What a pitiful existence._

"Hm? What is it?" The red knight seemed quite ill-humoured, all of a sudden, showing the faceless soldier a frown. "You're not here for me, right?"

The guard quickly whispered a few words to the red knight while trying to ignore the drawn weapon. _(Black knew very well that the said sword could be separating the faceless man's body in the very next second.)_

The card soldier was obviously nervous, as Black noted, the tension only left his shoulders as the red knight let out a sigh and lowered his beloved weapon.

_Looks like today is his lucky day. _

A second later, Ace flashed his opponent a wide grin, one which Black could only counter with an indifferent expression upon his face.

"Ah, looks like her Majesty is in need of my service…. What a shame!" In the blink on an eye, the sword was hid inside the golden sheath, its owner turning around as if their small fight didn't happen at all.

The left scene with the several broken chairs and tables around them was the only proof for their heated fight… Well, most of the furniture was ruined by the knight's faithful weapon, so the redhead didn't feel guilty about that._ Not that he would have felt responsible for the mess, anyway, _he added quickly in his mind.

In the meanwhile, the actual culprit waved his hand at the warden and flashed Black a wide, toothy grin as he made his way out of the small yard.

"Goodbye, Mr. Joker! Let's play again sometime!"

Ace's figure grew smaller and smaller in the distance, the card soldier quickly following behind.

While watching the retreating figure, the warden was hundred percent sure that the red knight took the wrong way, even if he himself wasn't exactly familiar with the exact position of the Heart Castle.

_That idiot… _

The redhead let out an exasperated sigh as he rubbed off the sweat in his forehead with the back of his hand.

"…"

_Silence._

Then, something _actually very important_ dawned on him.

"Hey!"_ Surely, the girl would answer him, right?_

However, much to his chagrin, his surroundings stayed mute. The customers and workers had escaped the place as soon as the fight had started.

"Alice!"

Hastily, the redhead looked around, searching for any trace of the said person.

"Hey, stupid, you don't expect me to crawl in dirt and look for you, do you?"

_Damn, I shouldn't have used so much strength while tossing her aside back then… _

Black felt incredibly stupid as he forced himself to actually kneel down and look around for the doll. _Yeah, a doll! _That was the most ridiculous thing he'd done so far.

His lonely ruby eye scanned the surroundings, disappointment slowly sinking in as he could not detect a single trace of the azure eyed girl. Only dust and some wallflowers upon the plastered ground greeted his ruby gaze, there was nothing which would closely resemble the small doll in her bright blue dress.

A small, menacing growl rose up in his throat as he understood that searching around the restaurant was most likely futile.

His mind started to search wildly for a possible explanation.

_She couldn't have escaped on her own… Not if she was in her right mind. _As far as he could tell, she'd rather stick to him than search on her own or ask someone else. (At least he hoped so.)

And that left our redhead with only one option_. _

_The precious doll was stolen by someone. _

Another inconvenience was added to his long list.

_Just great._

The warden clenched his fist, desperately wanting to punch something really hard while blaming the _stupid red knight_ for the unwelcome interference.

As long as Black did that, it was okay.

That way, he could ignore with ease the growing feeling of guilt inside himself.

The warden could only hope that his counterpart didn't see him right now… For if Joker did, then he would probably never hear the end of it. Black could already picture the jester making fun out of him.

The thought alone was enough to motivate the redhead. And he would definitely not return with empty hands. Sure, the girl was a foreigner and far too precious to be lost like that. But still, deep down the redhead knew that he'd never run around like an errand boy simply because it was for the sake of a foreigner.

There could be many foreigners out there but there was only one called _Alice_.

_She_ was one of very few stupid people who dared to approach and talk to Joker as if it was nothing special. Despite everything, there was always a special amount of time reserved for the red haired role-holder in her small beating heart. Just like for every other role-holder, time was not significant for this Joker. However, there was but one exception and _her time_ was something he simply _wanted_ to have.

There was always a difference of quality, something each of them had noticed from the very beginning. Joker could spend _hours_ with the incubus, as an example, and nothing good would come out of it. It would end in an exchange of glares, perhaps in a fight later on. It was always something else when the cold steely eyes were replaced by bright azure ones. A sarcastic remark here, a nice, genuine smile there, and suddenly you caught yourself longing for more.

Behind the deep crimson eye, a slender shape formed itself, _her figure_.

"_Your name will be Black, then."_

"_**Hm? What a stupid nickname!"**_

"_And yours will be White. It's really easier that way."_

"_**Hey, don't ignore me!"**_

Despite the ridiculous nicknames, he was finally glad that someone cared enough to bring a little bit of order in their confusing existence.

Joker felt important, actually noticed and seen.

_It was almost addictive_.

_This kind of time was rare in Wonderland, _and Joker would do anything to keep the girl's attention on himself, even if it was only during their short meetings.

_No._ Joker would definitely not let the little time he got disappear without a trace.

_That's right,_ he just had to concentrate on finding her.

Finally, his fist collided with the nearest unbroken table, the movement successfully relieving his growing anger.

"Argh-! I'll definitely kill this stupid knight!"

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Alice had barely any time to blink when the warmth colours of the evening were replaced by a cold night sky with hundreds of bright stars upon it. The bright orange walls were painted into a dirty shade of gray; it was as if a cheerful and colourful curtain fell, revealing the true colours of the world.

And even if Alice would agree when a certain hatter would praise the night's beauty, still, the brunette couldn't say that she liked the place the jester girl has brought her to.

The said girl kept walking firmly, taking the azure eyed foreigner further into the depths of the lonely streets. Alice's body bounced back and forth since the child insisted on taking her by the hand, thus letting the brunette hang around and remember sadly the comfortable traveling in a certain warden's pocket.

And, truth to be told, the brunette had no idea what to do. She could only describe her current situation as shameless abduction. Not that she could blame the child – who would think badly of a girl who took a doll, lying all forgotten and lonely on the floor? _So the question was, should she try and talk with the child? Or better pretend to be a normal doll?_ After all, Alice could do nothing and she was at the child's mercy.

Luckily, the jester girl spoke up, erasing the need to choose between the two options.

"You are Miss Alice, right?" It was the first time the brunette heard the jester girl call her by her name. _So the girl knew who she was from the very beginning?_

The brunette shifted her gaze, trying to get a glimpse of the child's face instead of the quickly passing pavement and rocks.

"We've met before, I'm sure you remember me! You _are_ the famous Alice, after all."

"Of course I do-" was all the brunette could answer before she was interrupted.

"Did you know, Miss Alice? Each coin has two sides," the girl said solemnly, as if it was an extraordinary discovery she just made.

_Well, Alice could agree with something as simple as that. And she could only guess where this conversation was going. If the child planned on talking nonsense then she could as well tell where they were heading to, _the young woman noted grudgingly. She didn't had anything against that particular jester girl, she liked talking to her from times to times. The faceless often talked about seemingly pointless matters and things she couldn't quite understand, so it was not unusual for the brunette.

But something seemed off about the child…

In the meanwhile the girl continued, ignoring the foreigner's quizzical look.

"_A happy place – a bad place," _the child murmured, "there are scary sides of Wonderland, too. Even the circus is one. I don't like them. So... do you think it is possible to stay in the happy place? Not to see the ugly side of life? Do you think it's too much for me, a faceless, to be thinking about it? But I thought that you would understand. You _are_ Alice, the foreigner."

Alice sighed. _Of course she could understand it. Why should she not? _

The girl kept talking, as if having a monologue with herself.

"You watch our performances at the circus, right? And sometimes you come during practice, too. But you aren't allowed to peek."

_Remember not to watch the practice Alice, this is a rule here. You don't want to spoil the fun, right? _These words were spoken to her by the circus leader himself, during one of their first meetings.

It was the first rule about the circus and Alice remembered it well.

"You saw the scary place, though. You've accepted that there was an ugly side to Joker's place."

The child sighed, while murmuring wistfully, _"I wish there was only the circus, nothing more, nothing less. It's so scary to be between two opposites."_

While taking in her words, Alice couldn't help but compare the bright circus with the gloomy prison realm. _Both ruled by Joker _and the difference couldn't be bigger.

As if somehow eavesdropping on Alice's thoughts, the jester girl brought Alice in front of her chest, watching the brunette intently. "I like Joker but I also hate Joker. Do you understand, Miss Alice?" She continued, not waiting for an answer.

"We're all just playthings in Joker's toy box, ready to be pulled out and perform for the audience's amusement. We like it, though. It's our nature. But toys are useless if they're broken."

The young foreigner stayed still, taking in the words and processing them in her mind. She would let the child talk as much as she needed. Something told her it would help her to understand a lot of things, even if they didn't make much sense, at first.

"My friend fell down during practice, you see. It used to be worse but accidents happen. They couldn't use him anymore. Something which is broken can't be repaired, it's better if you throw it away," she stated calmly, it was almost scary to listen to the girl's explanation, "or so Joker said. As always, scary Joker didn't feel like answering properly, either. He doesn't like us children that much... When nice Joker speaks with us, he's always gentle. But I feel insecure, too. Joker is sneaky and he doesn't speak the truth. But mean Joker shakes us off. Still, this time he gave me an answer. '_Use your own f****** brain if you want answers'_ was what I got."

Alice had to admit that despite the gloomy topic it was somehow funny to listen to the girl's attempts of imitating the prison guard. Automatically, a picture of Black appeared in her head, trying clumsily to get rid of a small jester girl.

"Didn't you say once that you should value life? You are a gentle child, a good child, Alice. Toys like it when you cherish them. Humans like to be cherished, too. I don't want to lose my friend. I don't think he's garbage and I'm sick of this toy box we're in." Her voice was so innocent, everything spoken so simple. However, Alice couldn't get rid of a certain bad feeling while listening to her. While the girl's words made her somehow happy, there was still something behind them and Alice was not naive enough to forget that even a child could be quite dangerous here in Wonderland. A certain pair of twins was the best example and even she wouldn't forget the many times the jester children tried to practice with her. _And don't forget to mention the knives and the super sharp saw they used for their performances._ She gulped, trying to cast the thought aside.

"And so, Miss Alice, I came to a simple conclusion!" The girl's grip tightened, though Alice didn't mind it much. She had better problems to deal with and the foreigner was starting to get very concerned about her safety and well-being._ If only this would end well… _

Suddenly, the girl cried out in excitement while quickening her pace and completely forgetting to reveal the results of her pondering.

"Ah, we're finally here!"

First, Alice could only see stars flying around her head - a result of too much carelessness on behalf of a certain overexcited jester child. Then, the shaking stopped and the brunette could focus her eyes on the scenery around them.

The lanterns gave off too little of their deep yellow light to see anything properly. Finally, she registered that they were in a small courtyard, squeezed between tight brick walls of old middle-class houses. A few moths circled around the bright bulbs above a lonely pair of swings – the only objects filling the place besides an old bench with a wooden fence behind and some unusually big mushrooms.

Suddenly, Alice's eyes registered a slight movement at the back. First she could have sworn that her tired eyes deceived her. However, soon a figure separated itself from the shadows, taking shape of a child, about the same height as the jester girl, equally faceless.

The boy's clothes seemed oddly familiar to the brunette. However, it was not until she noticed the big red bow that she saw the connection between the bear-shaped toy and the boy.

Upon seeing the girl, he quickly made his way over while greeting her with a happy smile.

"You're finally here!" However soon it turned into a slight frown. "You know that Joker will be mad if you don't return before sunset!" The boy quickly took his friend's hand in his, holding it tight between both of his. The small female answered the gesture with an optimistic smile.

"It doesn't matter… he won't find out, anyway. I made sure to sneak out without a trace!"

However, her companion didn't look like he trusted the girl's words.

Alice remained silent for she simply had no idea what she was supposed to do in such a situation. In the meanwhile, her presence was noticed as soon as the girl freed her hand and indicated at the foreigner, still pressed to her small chest.

"Anyway, look what I have here!" the girl's voice sounded overly excited, the ring of it sent chills down Alice's spine. Just where will this conversation end? It was a shame that she was not in her own body, otherwise she would have complained or at least reacted in some appropriate way.

"Miss Alice! What are you doing here?" The boy was obviously surprised, the emotion was quite evident despite his seemingly blank face.

"I found her near a restaurant, while Joker was busy with the knight." The boy shuddered at the sound of the role-holder's name. His voice shook slightly, betraying his fear. Alice watched closely as the two of them conversed.

"J-Joker? So he knows about me?"

"He might… So we shouldn't waste any time!" As soon as the words left her mouth, the girl grabbed the foreigner's tiny frame and held it in front of her.

"Hey!" Alice's protests landed on deaf ears as the girl continued, completely disregarding the angered brunette.

"Just think about it: It's only one life for your own freedom!"

_What?_ Alice's blood would have run cold if she had some at the moment.

"But I don't think we should do this…"

"Hey, how can you say that? You only have this one chance!" Alice could have easily detected despair in the girl's voice but the brunette was too busy trying to understand what was going on. The jester girl tapped her thin foot in protest against the pavement, her next words finally making Alice understand just what she got herself into.

"**If we destroy her then you could take her place forever, right? **You won't have to play the tiny role of a small plaything in Joker's circus anymore!" The tone was hard, despite the childish voice, and there was no hesitation when she declared her mad intentions.

"This is… not what I want, though. It's okay if I'm only a small existence. I only wanted to…"

With a last desperate attempt, the jester girl cut his words, trying to persuade her male friend. "Come on, it won't hurt! I can't let you down, now that we have the chance!"

"I…-" however, the boy never got the chance to finish his last words. A deathly cold object was pressed against his back as a dark figure emerged from the shadows.

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"**Well, what do we have here? Some cute little kids!"**

"**Looks like they're **_**runaways from the circus**_**!"**

Alice found herself facing two faceless men, shaking from far too much spirit and barely able to stand. Their relatively business-like attire and expensive looking guns indicated that they probably belonged to one of the many mafia clans besides the Hatter family.

The brunette didn't know whether to be thankful or rather frightened because of the sudden interruption the faceless men had caused.

Then, Alice felt a strong wish to close her nose tightly when a strong smell of alcohol found its way inside her nostrils, confirming her suspicions. _They've had obviously one too many… Which was not good. Not at all. _

"So, _do you think_ that jester would pay us some _money_ for _them_?"

One of the men scanned the children quite shamelessly while tapping his chin.

"_Don't know_, but we _could try__**, **_at least…"

"You two! We have knives! So stay back!" To Alice's surprise, the girl drew a small shining knife. The foreigner remembered them from one of the many performances. But to think that these innocent children would have such dangerous objects with them….

"**Oh, little girl has a toy with her! **Be careful, okay?" The armed man pressed his gun further against the boy's back.** "You could hurt yourself with that thing…"**

The girl's hands shook, despite the brave facade she was trying to show.

Alice didn't like where this conversation was heading.

Up until now, she pretended to be mute, trying to keep calm and collected.

But that, she couldn't ignore anymore.

The brunette was just about to cry out, at least say something, but fate decided that she won't have to play the hero in her current state.

There was a simple sound of something sharp cutting the air, she couldn't even tell where it came from.

The armed man was instantly sent back and nailed on the wooden fence behind him, sweat rolling down his blank face as he noticed the knives which barely missed his trembling body.

"_**Www-what the…-? Hey! Help me!" **_His looked around frantically yet his non-existing eyes couldn't detect his fellow companion. He seemed to have disappeared, but not without a trace: Alice's azure eye caught a shadowy figure withdrawing in a corner.

During the commotion the sudden attack caused, the jester girl let Alice slip out of her grasp. For the second time that day, Alice made a highly uncomfortable contact with the hard ground. "Ow!"

_Oh she so hoped that it was also the last time! _

A pair of black boots entered her vision, her own feet quickly saying goodbye to the pavement as she was lifted up, meeting an all too familiar ruby eye.

"**Damn, you're always looking out for trouble, as I see."**

"Black? But how…?"

The brunette couldn't even describe how wonderfully relieving it was to look again into the burning red iris. She felt so safe she could cry, yet words couldn't come out and even if they did, he probably wouldn't appreciate them, anyway.

"Easy as hell to find you in this part of town. Well," the redhead's gaze shifted to a shady figure behind, "some of these guys helped, too. Shady places are their speciality."

After the short explanation was done, Black locked his intent gaze with the only intruder left. The poor faceless man was as numb as a caught rabbit in front of a dangerous predator. A strangled sound made its way out of his throat as the warden approached him with steady steps, freeing one of his knives and holding the sharp blade against his exposed throat.

"So you b****** like stealing what belongs to Joker, eh? I wonder how you'll like it if I show you what I think about dumb a****** like you!"

Black's victim _(Alice couldn't find any better word to describe the poor man) _bit his lip tightly as he watched with horror the coldly shining, razor sharp blade.

"Ugh! Please, stop!" his words came out as a whine, almost, this was however not enough to make the redhead lower his weapon.

"You feel no guilt so that's quite a problem… **Well,**" Alice could only watch helplessly as a dangerously cold glint appeared in Black's dark eye, **"I'll just solve it right here.**"

She gulped.

_Such situations._

_She has encountered them far too often_. And Alice knew: i_nterference was futile. Moral wouldn't win this hopeless fight._

As her clean blue eyes watched the crimson liquid flow she felt her throat tightening, a lump forming itself and blocking the air… _Kill or be killed._ This man could have destroyed her without a second thought_, just like the jester children. Just like them_. She would be far too naïve if she dared to think that it was possible to change this undying rule of a completely mad world.

_Yet her heart couldn't help but feel this great pain. _

_She felt horrible but she was glad the men were gone. _

_Alice was happy. That she was safe._

However, the short moment of relieve did not last long. Black's sudden movement took her quickly out of her stupor, returning her attention back to the scene.

His back was now facing the crimson mess, the brunette's tiny body turned around along with his hand, his grip still tight. _This shaky way of transportation was seriously starting to get on her nerves…_

"**And you!** This is not a f****** playground, you know?" the warden snapped at the two children who seemed to be glued to the spot, mouth wide open. Finally, as they realized that the words were directed at them, they flinched, ready to run for it. Unfortunately, the warden's reflexes were faster. The redhead was obviously not in the mood to play when he used his free hand, ready to catch the boy.

"**Hey, keep struggling like that and I'll slice you to ribbons, you brat!"**

Grabbed by the collar, the boy had no choice but to stop his futile attempts to escape. Upon noticing her friend's predicament, the girl quickly turned back, taking her friend's hand and trying to pull him away. "Joker, please let go! We're not bad children!" She looked like she was on the verge of tears, just like her friend.

"I-I'm sorry! Please forgive me! It was my fault!" Now, Alice's azure eyes widened at the sight of the shaking boy, making her forget quickly what exactly the children were planning to do with her.

The jester boy was now facing the brunette, his tiny figure still in between the unyielding opponents who simply refused to give in.

"I was… just jealous of you…. And I really wanted to walk around once more and meet my friend, so… please don't hate me! I'm not a bad person, really!" By pulling really hard, Black had finally managed to separate him from the nasty girl who, in return, fell on her back.

"**Duh, you really think an apology is enough, **_**you ungrateful pig**_**? Damn, this is why I hate dealing with you brats." **

"Apology accepted."

"…"

"**What?" **

She decided a long time ago that she wouldn't succumb to this madness.

Killing wouldn't solve anything.

_An eye for an eye_, as some people would suggest, but the brunette wouldn't allow this kind of thing.

With a calm voice, she tried to explain herself. "As I said, Black, an apology will be enough. Can't you see the despair in their faces? This is enough."

Even the jester child was staring at her like at a rare creature, for he had definitely not been hoping for such a reaction from the famous foreigner.

"…Miss Alice." The boy was smiling now. "You really _are_ a gentle child. Thank you so much!" Alice noticed that she didn't even know his name.

"**Jeez! This is f****** ridiculous!" **Black could only shake his head in disbelief as he watched the scene.

The young woman chose to ignore the redhead's reaction, thankful that he wasn't throwing a tantrum or anything of that sort. _It could have been worse… _Instead, she, once again, faced the jester boy, asking a question that's been plaguing her mind for a while.

"By the way, what is your…-" but as soon as the brunette started, another thing caught her attention.

A dark mass seemed to form itself around the boy's tiny feet.

_A monster? An afterimage? What is this? – Alice's tired mind was searching for an answer yet it couldn't find any suitable name for that __**thing**__._

The mass, foggy and purely black, licked at the child's feet, gradually extending and swallowing the frail body without hesitation.

Just for a second, there, Alice could have sworn that she saw a sad smile upon the blank face, quite apologetic perhaps but she couldn't tell for sure.

Another blink and it was washed away.

A hand flew up quickly towards the brunette's mouth, covering it as the girl watched while the child's figure deformed itself, until it took the shape of a familiar bear-shaped wind-up toy.

Her body was getting quite heavy, new energy flowing inside her limbs, yet her mind and eyes filled with horror couldn't leave the awful sight.

Her mouth trembled as she hesitantly spoke her next words.

"W-what's this, Black?"

"This is the punishment for breaking the rules. There's nothing we can do about it." The answer was court, spoken without hesitation. Black's ruby eye, now void of any kind of emotion, stared blankly at the sight of a truly pitiful existence being swallowed by the unyielding black mass.

Another second and there was nothing left.

_ Nothing at all, not even a single hair to remind them of a tiny creature that was once a part of this world._

Yes, the same thing would surely happen to him if he were to break the rules. Only the foreigner... She would not die that pathetic way. The thought alone filled him with envy, the selfish desire to switch places with the lucky foreigner. Or, at least, to have a tiny piece of her in his possession.

The redhead cleared his mind rather quickly, regaining his composure within mere seconds. _These kinds of thoughts would do him nothing good._

There was not a single trace left, the jester girl has disappeared without a trace, too. The azure, lively eyes stared at the blank scenery with a forlorn expression in them.

"You know,…"

"Hm?"

"… I didn't even know his name."

…

The brunette flinched as a warm something descending upon her shoulder from behind.

She didn't dare to look back, focusing her eyes on the scarcely lit ground.

"Just forget what happened here and be happy that you're still f****** alive."

_Well, that's a nice way of comforting an upset person, _she thought grimly, yet she remained silent while tightly pursing her lips.

She felt bitterness inside her chest, still, this small gesture was enough to barely keep her from going mad.

This was one of those moments when she truly despised it all_, and especially her useless self._

_He didn't deserve it._

_But who in this world could ever understand her feelings?_

The pressure on her shoulder got harder, it was almost painful.

_She could feel pain._

_Yes. She was still alive._

Her eyes focused once more.

"You know… thank you." It was almost a whisper, barely audible yet firm. She spoke with the most sincere expression she could muster. "I guess I truly owe you one, Black."

"Tch. That's all you have to say after all the trouble I've been through? What an ungrateful woman you are!"

He knew she really meant it. The azure eyed foreigner was sure of it. And she would show her gratitude some way or another.

The next moment, she sensed him leaning in, the pale face descending dangerously close towards her own.

It was definitely wiser to look straight ahead, yet her curious azure orbs still dared to glace sideways, meeting with the deep ruby locks of a certain redhead.

The pale skin upon her smooth cheeks coloured slightly as she stood still as a statue, feeling overly conscious of the man behind her.

She flinched as she felt some warm air touch her ear when the familiar teasing voice with a rough undertone flooded her mind.

"Well, looks like I'm not needed here anymore. _What a relief." _

The deep ruby eye seemed to look past her thin figure as he spoke his last words.

She frowned, ready to open her mouth in protest.

"As if…-"

But before she could properly part her lips and speak out, the figure behind her drew back.

Then, within a second the tall frame of the red eyed man became one with the shadow, the last bit of warmth quickly separating itself from the brunette's body, leaving a small reminding lingering upon her shoulder.

The brunette closed her mouth, realizing that her words wouldn't reach their goal.

From the distance, she could already hear various voices mixed together, growing closer with each second that passed._  
><em>

Gradually, they became louder until finally, three tall figures entered her vision.

The man with the gorgeous dark blue hair was the fastest, within a second, the brunette felt two large hands holding her tight.

"Alice! Why didn't you tell us when you left? What did you do?" The clockmaker almost yelled at her, the worry quite evident upon his features.

"Alice!"

The men quickly circled her, each one with his own questions for the young foreigner. Two pair of eyes and a single one scanned her body with great concentration, trying to find any signs of harm upon their valued guest.

"We've been looking for you! Are you alright? Did something happen?"

"Alice, are you sick? You don't have a fever, now, do you?"

"Nightmare-sama, please calm down! Let's go home, for now."

So many questions flooded her head, but not even the dream demon himself could find his way through the brunette's chaotic thoughts.

Her rosy lips moved, repeating his last lines.

.

_**Don't lose your way home, little miss.**_

_**.  
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_**.  
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_**.  
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* * *

><p><strong>AN:**

_** I definitely need to write an epilogue . I can't leave it like that. _**_**I want to write a nice epilogue without depression and sadness^-^**_**_**_

_**Also, I'm sorry for the mistakes, and all the confusion! m(._.)m  
><strong>_

_**_**Well anyway, thank you very much for reading it up until now and, of course, thank you for the encouraging and helpful reviews!  
><strong>_**_


	6. Chapter 6

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And then, the memories were gone. The once dazed azure orbs focused on the snowy scenery below, watching the snowflakes descend peacefully upon the purely white roofs and trees of the town below.

As her mind was slowly returning from its trip along the past memories, her body finally grew aware of the very chilly window and her hand that she still held against it. The merciless coldness crept inside her fingertips, stinging sharp and invisible needles inside the soft flesh. The brunette quickly withdrew her fingers from the frozen glass and rubbed her hands while letting her gaze wander across the scenery outside.

_She would be never able to change this wonderful, mad world. After all, she was just a small being in this universe full of rules and weird creatures following them obediently... But it didn't mean that she will accept them. She had the luxury of being a foreigner and she was beginning to understand its true value.  
><em>

_And it is not like her old world was a perfect place._

_The brunette sighed as she watched as another show flake made its way down towards the ground.  
><em>

Alice never grew bored of the cold season. Snow was a good thing. _This meant that she could see a certain someone again._

She snapped out of her thoughts as a gentle sound of someone knocking reached her ears.

"Alice, may I come in?" She relaxed instantly as she recognized the tall yellow eyed man and welcomed him with a friendly smile. Her eyes quickly fell upon the small package he held. She eyed it curiously while Gray made his way across the room, looking apologetic for intruding while the girl was about to call it a day.

"I came by to check on you... I hope I'm not disturbing. If there is anything you need, then please don't hesitate to tell me, Alice."

Gray seemed reassuring but the brunette couldn't help but be reminded of her small "trip" she had been remembering just an hour ago. No one of the Tower's residents knew the truth about the whole incident and Alice certainly didn't feel like sharing. Being a thoughtful person, the brunette had assumed that she would only cause problems and make them worry. Yet, it appeared that this led them, especially Gray and the ever silent yet caring Julius, to make up various theories, many of which were quite... creative. _A little bit too creative, _she added with dismay.

"Ah, by the way, this came in today, it has your name on it so I took the liberty of delivering it."

The small, neatly wrapped package landed softly in her hands.

"Oh… thank you! I could have done it by myself, though." She felt almost bad for making Gray go all the way to her room just to give it to her. And the green and white tower was quite huge, too. The brunette shook her head slightly and added, "Really, you didn't need to do that for me."

The yellow eyed man, composed and polite as ever, answered her with a warm smile.

"Don't even think of apologizing, Alice. You're welcome, and you know that I'm always happy if I can help out."

Both fell into a slightly uncomfortable silence, until the ex-assassin decided to excise himself. Alice could tell that he wanted to talk about something, most likely to ask about her well being. Luckily he decided against it.

"Well, I shall take my leave then. I still have to go find Nightmare-sama…"

In return, the young woman gave him an encouraging smile, trying to appear as healthy as possible. She didn't need to worry Gray with her thrilling adventure, it was the last thing she wanted to do.

"I'll tell you if I see him!"

"That's very kind of you. Well then, good night! Don't open the windows, you might get a cold!"

With a last goodbye-gesture, the ever thoughtful and kind Gray disappeared behind the door frame. The door closed almost soundless, leaving her all alone, the small package still held between hands. Now that she had her privacy, her attention returned to its even surface, her eye concentrated on the beautiful, cursive writing in its left corner.

It said:_ "Apology gift for our dear Alice" _

Well, what could it be? She was torn between opening it immediately and leaving it closed, after all, she had no clue where it came from.

But on the other hand, the foreigner knew very well that the mail was very well inspected, especially here in the Tower of Clover. Whatever it was, it shouldn't be harmful, at least she hoped so. She scolded herself for being too impatient. Originally, she was about to finish her last business and get between the welcoming blankets, yet this thing wouldn't leave her tired mind.

_What would my sister think of me acting like that?_ The thought left as quickly as it came, letting the curiosity win. The slender fingers worked quickly and unwrapped the package, finally revealing its precious contents.

However, as soon as the azure eyes made contact with_ IT_, the tight grip on the package loosened, letting the box slip out of her grasp.

_Truth to be told, she had expected anything but THAT._

An extremely displeased sound made her jump and, of course, instantly regret what she had done. The brunette covered her mouth quickly in order to hide her wide open mouth. That voice… even if it was slightly high-pitched, she would recognize it anywhere.

.

"**Are you crazy, woman? What do you think you're doing?" **

**.  
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_This… this can't be true_, her mind was screaming, yet her eyes proved the opposite.

Here, upon the floor and right beside her feet, was lying nothing else but a plushie, one that reminded her of a _certain someone. _

Alice could recognize this tiny black eye patch, the glassy red eye and soft red locks anywhere! The black uniform looked strangely adorable, making it/him/whatever look like a toy which just escaped a Japanese merchandise shop.

Her eyes went wide as she tried to process just what exactly she was supposed to do. The only thing our dear foreigner thought was, quite obviously:_ Is this supposed to be some kind of a prank? _A sudden realization crossed her mind as the brunette finally understood just where exactly the mystery _gift _came from.

Her eye twitched slightly along with that thought.

_Yes, thank you very much, Mr. Circus Master. Really. What is this supposed to mean?_

"**Hey, you! Are you asleep or what?"**

She blinked once, then twice.

_This was Black._ And somehow, she was incredibly thankful that this _cute_ form saved her from blushing furiously, such an embarrassing reaction would be too much for her to bear. Too vivid was the memory of her small 'adventure', the hot breath against her ear still fresh in mind. The brunette suddenly felt like shaking her head violently, if only she could get rid of the image so easily…

Her eyes returned to the highly displeased guest beside her feet.

_Still…_

Why did she have to be so weak when it came to cute things?

Liking toys was okay, she was a woman, after all.

And Elliot was okay, too, he was, after all, a rabbit.

And Black_ was_ cute. _Cute! _These two words aren't supposed to be used together in one sentence!

_Pull yourself together, Alice. You're not supposed to think that. _

_It is still Black. THE Joker. _

_But, this is so adorable. And it makes it all even worse, _she added with dismay. How could she ever forget this sight?

The young foreigner cleared her throat, trying to distract herself.

"A-anyway, so how come you are like… that? And what were you doing in this package, anyway?"

"**Don't ask. Just, don't." **The tiny eye narrowed and she could see a slight frown spreading across the small face.**  
><strong>

Well, he made it quite clear that he didn't have any plans of letting her know the truth. Not that she actually wanted to know._ (Which she, quite obviously, didn't – that's what she kept telling herself)._

"**How long am I supposed to lay here on the floor?"**

The small version of Joker, arms crossed, was giving the girl quite a serious look. Her azure eye studied the severe expression upon the (oh so softly looking) round face, expectation clearly shown in the round ruby eye.

She could feel the sweat form itself and roll down her face.

_You can't say NO to such a cute face. Never._

_Argh…! _She was starting to get a headache.

Yet, her hands reached out automatically, being unable to withstand the simple request.

"Here, are you happy now?"

"**Hn." **

**"Your attire is completely useless."**

"What?"

The small redhead seized her apron with a calculating look, then answered matter-of-factly. "**You don't have any comfortable pockets, from what I can tell. Or is there one under that annoying apron?"**

Her eye instantly twitched in annoyance as she understood what he meant.

"You-…!"

In the exact same moment, before her mind could decide what one could do to an awfully cute yet seriously perverted plushie, the door opened, revealing a blue haired male.

The girl's eyes instantly connected with the clockmaker's frame. "J-Julius?"

"Alice? What's wrong? I thought I've heard voices…" His dark eyes showed concern - not even the glasses were able to hide it from the observant brunette. "Is everything alright?"

As if on cue, the small redhead grew silent. The last thing he wanted was to be discovered by any of the Tower's occupants.

Now, THAT would be really embarrassing.

In the meanwhile, Alice successfully regained her composure. "No- eh, I mean, yes, I was just about to go to bed. Everything is okay, though."

"Is that so…"

Julius was indeed sceptical. The girl tried to form a small smile, if only it would convince the tall male.

"I'm just a little bit tired, so if I could have my privacy…"

The words worked instantly, letting the blue haired clockmaker excuse himself quietly and close the door.

Alice listened intently to the footsteps getting more and more silent with each step Julius took.

Her hands pushed the small plushie absentmindedly further towards her chest, thus reanimating the silent toy.

"**Hey. How can you stand this man harem? They just keep showing up! First this stupid Lizard, then the Clockmaker... Can't they leave you alone, for at least an hour or so?"**

Now, Alice really struggled hard to keep herself from laughing out loud.

"Well, I'm sorry, but don't you count as an intruder?"

"**I'm a guest. JUST-A-GUEST, you got it? And anyway, you should bring me back to my territory!" **The brunette could barely contain her laugh as she watched Black's highly entertaining reaction_. Seriously, this should happen more often. _

She sighed quietly and noticed a yawn trying to find its way outside her mouth. It was late, anyway, so it was only natural that her body begged for some sleep. This meant, unfortunately, that the discussion should be cut short.

"I was going to shower quickly and get myself some rest… I'm quite sorry but I'm really too tired to walk back to the circus…" …and she was definitely not in the mood to try and reach the prison realm in her current state.

The sceptical look he gave her made it obvious that he was not convinced.

"**You sure about that? Because you look quite fresh, in my opinion."**

"_Why, thank you."_ The sarcasm in her voice couldn't be missed as she straightened her arms while supporting the tiny warden with both hands. "For now, I am in charge and you're in my room."

"_**You heartless woman…" **_the red haired plushie cursed under its breath, yet the words managed to reach Alice's sharp ears.

_Hm! So what if I am? _

She was just about to come with a sharp answer when it dawned on her that she was arguing with a _toy_.

And so, her anger quickly washed away, after all, our Alice was still a female. A toy-loving one, too, and she quickly realized that she was bound to surrender to the really, really cute sight in front of her. Finally, Alice let out a sigh. _This is going to be a long night. And here she thought that it was finally over. _

"Hmm… let's see… I could undress you, wash you, and then…-"

It seemed that the warden finally understood which kinds of tortures could await him in his near future.

**"Hey, what are you thinking, you crazy woman! Don't forget, you owe me quite a lot!"**

"Well, you're right." _It's such a shame, though_ – was what could be read upon her face.

"**Don't even think of IT." **

She had no idea whether Joker could read minds or not, but this almost made her suspicious.

"I won't do anything. I will just go to sleep…"

She was about to slip out of her blue dress and get into the silky nightgown – when she finally realized that she had a male spectator right beside her.

Without much hesitation, she stuffed the plush toy under the bed sheet while successfully ignoring the redhead's colourful and very loud protests.

The brunette sighed, while realizing that she was in desperate need of a shower.

She needed to cool her head, furthermore, sleep was finally taking over her tired mind and who knows what she could and would do in such a state?

Just a minute later, as the soothing liquid ran down her tired frame, enveloping the young woman from head to toe. Finally she felt like her thoughts were washed down. They disappeared together with the flowing water, leaving her in a comfortable state.

Her mind was completely elsewhere and for some reason, she completely forgot about her nightly visitor, who happened to make himself comfortable upon the soft sheets.

(The redhead finally came to the conclusion that he would definitely not see his home very soon and figured that any protests would be futile, anyway.)

.

.

.

_Damn, this woman is heavy…_

The redhead felt like cursing since he was practically trapped under a certain brunette's arm while the cause of his discomfort was snoring gently, oblivious to his current state.

Yet he couldn't bring himself to break the peaceful atmosphere. The silence filled the whole room with comfort and even Black noticed that it was not the time to complain.

_Who knew that silence could be this nice?_

The girl beside was sound asleep, her lovely eyes hidden from the harsh world outside. Her breath, visible thanks to the cold air, came out in puffs. The strap of her creamy nightgown slipped down her shoulder while she turned to the side, her head still resting upon the welcoming pillow.

In whole, her body radiated warmth and felt quite nice. _Too nice, even. _With her porcelain skin and soft features, she could be compared with an angel – so innocent and peaceful.

So much more beautiful than that hysteric woman who called herself the Queen of Hearts, even if she was rumoured to be the most beautiful female of Wonderland. And Joker was not blind; he could see the obvious difference between the two women. An angel alone, gifted with all the beauty this world could offer, would be too boring. On the other hand, the brunette's true values revealed themselves slowly; they grew even more evident as time went by.

However, even the warden knew what it meant when a person started to glow brighter than everyone else.

It didn't mean that he would show this, of course.

For one, the darker half was not that kind of person who would let his environment know about his intentions and feelings. _It would be his downfall if he did._

_He still had a role to play._

His words may be nasty but that's how he was supposed to be.

In the distance, a lonely pair of church bells began with their simple melody, filling the empty air with a lively sound.

A sudden realization dawned on the redhead as the distant sound of ringing bells finally reached his ears.

He _did_ forget to mention a certain something to the young woman beside him. Something, let's just say _very important_.

Along with the ringing sound, Black watched silently as his shadow increased its size and the silky sheets wrinkled under new weight coming seemingly out of nowhere.

His hand reached out towards the ceiling as the warden examined his fingers, out of real flesh and blood and as anatomically correct as they could ever be.

A smug smile formed itself upon his lips as he felt satisfied with the result. For now, he won't search for ways of paying back Joker for making him go through this whole ordeal.

He was already looking forward to the enjoyable expression in the azure eyes of a certain foreigner when she woke up from her deep slumber.

_Well, he did insist on being taken home but the girl didn't listen._

It's her fault so the redhead didn't feel guilty, not at all.

The brunette shifted slightly, her sudden movement accompanied by a quiet groan. His ruby eye widened slightly as the change of position bought her face so close to his own that he could feel her warm breath and listen how the air came in and left her slender body.

_Damn._

_This is torture._

_He still needed to wait for her to wake up but he couldn't allow the sleep or other things to claim his own body._

But waiting alone would be boring. Absentmindedly, his hand reached out, taking hold of a loose brown strand and twirling it around his finger. The hair felt silky and quite smooth, exactly as he had imagined it before.

The redhead redirected his gaze back towards her sleeping face – one that he definitely didn't see often. One moment she seemed to be in pain, soon, her features relaxed once again.

_What was she dreaming about? He could take a peek, of course, as long as the green caterpillar was not in sight. It was April Season, after all, so a small crime would be forgiven, anyway._

_On the other hand, this was the dream demon's territory. And this Joker was not 'White-san'. He certainly didn't feel like being killed by the famous incubus and neither did he have any masochistic tendencies like a certain circus master. _The redhead snorted as he recollected all the times he found his counterpart spread in a pool of his own blood. Black had to admit that he'd rather see his enemy fall than feel the sharp and pain of an insanely hot bullet inside his chest. And he definitely had better things to worry about. _  
><em>

His found his thoughts to be simply disgusting and therefore dismissed them with a slight huff. His body was already getting tired from being in the same position for quite a while. Without making much sounds, the redhead shifted slightly so that he lying on the side and facing the sleeping foreigner across from him.

That face. Black got _so_ used to seeing it every now and then. He may not want to admit it out loud, but he would certainly miss her presence if she stopped visiting the circus territory. _Which may happen quite soon. _The warden blinked, feeling slight irritation creep across his face. The April Season would be over sooner or later, along with the need to change the seasons. This was quite equal to having less visits of a certain foreigner.

_Not good. Not at all._

Like a weightless blue butterfly she flew around a dangerous web, too tempting, as if begging to be caught and _eaten_. _However, a butterfly loses its unique beauty after being caught and crushed._ It would turn into a hollow shell, void of its alluring glow. That, Black didn't want.

It was this kind of an obsession which, in itself, was even more frightening than the normal longing feeling towards a foreigner. Of course, a strong, overpowering and unknown feeling such as this one was scary for each and every person. Human beings fear what they do not know. Was it safe to let a fragile creature like her hold his interest for so long?

The questions pestered his mind, begging to be answered soon.

.

But, as soon as realization dawns on him, he accepts it quietly, like a man.

_Joker may deceive others but he never lies to himself._

He tried to stay away, not to involve himself for his (and, more importantly, her) sake…_ but damn, he was still a man. _

And one thing was clear as a sunny day. If, despite everything, the azure eyed girl were to come into his hold, _he wouldn't let her slip away._

_This foreigner takes good care of things which are dear to her and she certainly cherishes such unimportant things as broken playthings, she speaks with the faceless.  
><em>

_If he were a toy in her hands, then she would now let him fall so easily. She may behave a little bit irritating (this girl almost tried to make him wear a dress!) and be slightly naive and lost but he had seen clearly how exactly she acts and what she is like. Alice wouldn't break a clock which is intrusted in her dainty hands. _

_Yes, that didn't sound too bad, to be honest._

_.  
><em>

It was so quiet, he could hear his own source of life making faint sounds._  
><em>

.

.

Tick.

.

Tack. – another movement of his clock and the words formed themselves, then left his lips before he could stop them from their escape.

"Damn, why do I f****** love her?"

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.

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/END

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><p><strong>Credit for this awesome idea goes to: <strong>ReflectiveFragments

I hope you were satisfied with the end! :3 It's so hard trying to keep them in character and bring some more romance in between. I guess I couldn't fulfill my own expectations but I did my best... m(._.)m And I so wanted to hear the "L"-word coming from Black's mouth just once. D:

Anyway, I'm very happy that it's finished now. =)

I really want to try writing drabbles sometime... well, maybe I'll try after a break.


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